Contemporary formatting of politics

Coordination

Fabienne Greffet and Franck Rebillard

Presentation

This issue brings together contributions analysing contemporary formatting of politics in relation to the restructuring of the information ecosystem and current trends in democracy.

Changes in the news media, modes of address and interactional dynamics have coincided with the ideological polarization of media organizations and digital environments, possibly compounded by a fragmentation of audiences. Although these trends are offset by the mainstream media which still have broad appeal, they are facilitated by the declining autonomy of journalism under the market-driven logics of major digital platforms.

The first two articles in this issue, which highlight the persistence of traditional mainstream media logics, are devoted respectively to political interviews on morning radio and TV news programmes, and to the digital adjustments made to an NGO’s campaigns. The following three articles take a more direct look at the formats produced and established by platforms, particularly face-cam videos and ‘viral’ and controversial posts, situating their circulation on YouTube, TikTok and X (Twitter) in the continuation of previous periods. Lastly, the concluding article, addressing the use of generative AI by identity movement activists, raises new and significant issues for the formatting of politics.

Editorial board

Director: Patrice Flichy [patrice.flichy@u-pem.fr]

Co-director: Valérie Beaudouin [valerie.beaudouin@ehess.fr]

Editorial secretary: Aurélie BUR [aurelie.bur@enpc.fr]

Editorial committee: Jean-Samuel Beuscart, Dominique Cardon, Éric Dagiral, Fabienne Greffet, Virginie Julliard, Christian Licoppe, Benjamin Loveluck, Inna Lyubareva, Sylvie Octobre, Alban Ouahab, Sylvain Parasie, Franck Rebillard, Olivier Voirol

Scientific consultant: Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz

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