Alternative Media & Mainstream Politics: The Case of Mediated Political Fusion

Abstract

Recent research concerning alternative media has provided some insight concerning the increasing role of those media in mainstream political communication. In this study, we conducted interviews with key leaders in local level Democratic and Republican Parties in the United States Midwest. These were the individuals who chaired the parties and executive committees, maintained the social and interactive media platforms for the parties, and managed high-profile campaigns. Our interviews revealed that there were leaders in the community who made use of alternative media in some ways. What is more, we found that there were key individuals across both parties who included alternative media content in their political work, or included links or content from such media in their social media feeds. Such findings demonstrate the increasing fusion of activist and mainstream politics, which hold important implications for political communication in that Midwestern county.

Keywords:

• Alternative media
• activism
• social media
• political communication

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Jules Patalita, Jaclyn Shetterly, and Jieke Stroobant for their contributions with this research project.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The names of locations have been changed to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.

2 Prior to the research, we obtained Institutional Review Board approval at Bowling Green State University (IRBNet ID# 120299-4).