Media and the Radical Right

The way the media relate to radical right-wing actors remains one of the least studied areas in the literature on the radical right. This chapter examines how the media affect the demand for and the supply of right-wing radicalism. The media can affect political demand by setting the agenda on or framing key issues such as immigration and crime, helping legitimize a political space in which the radical right can thrive. On the supply side, media access and exposure are a political resource that can help outsiders enter the political game and provide validation, momentum, and legitimacy. Media effects depend on availability of political opportunities, developmental phase of the radical actor, type of coverage, and type of medium. Future work can use experimental methods to probe individual-level links between media cues and voter or activist preferences, and to examine media regulations, especially of newer media.