The platforming is the point: News media, ‘the oxygen of amplification’, and interviewing the far-right

Abstract

This paper critically interrogates the role of news media in mainstreaming, normalizing and amplifying contemporary far-right political actors, parties, and movements in the twenty-first century. Through a critical interdisciplinary literature review and two qualitative case studies of high-profile media interviews with former Trump administration strategist Steve Bannon and leading Trump-supporting politician Marjorie Taylor Greene, this paper explores both the limitations and ethics of long-standing journalistic dogmas such as objectivity and neutrality in the face of rising extremism, fascism, and anti-democratic politics on a global scale. Drawing on Whitney Phillips’ ‘oxygen of amplification’ thesis, the paper argues that despite the best intentions of journalists, news media has (unwittingly) played into the hands of the contemporary far-right. The paper concludes with a set of research-informed recommendations to assist journalists and editors in engaging more ethically with the far-right, particularly in ways that limit the uncritical amplification of their reactionary, conspiratorial and anti-democratic political project.