Emotions, Media and Politics

Emotions have long been neglected in media research, although their role is a vital ingredient in shaping our shared stories and the ways we engage with them. But emotions, as they circulate through the media, can also be divisive and exclusionary.

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen makes the case for researching the role of emotions in mediated politics. Drawing on a series of studies, she explores the complex relationship between emotions, politics and media. The book includes analyses of how Facebook structures emotional reactions; the anger of Donald Trump; the use of personal storytelling in feminist Twitter hashtags; the role of emotionality in award-winning journalism; and the communities created by political fandoms.

Essential reading for scholars and students, this important volume opens up new ways of thinking about and researching emotions, media and politics.

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Understanding Emotions in Mediated Public Life

1 Taking Emotion Seriously: A Brief History of Thought

2 Emotions are Everywhere: The Strategic Ritual of Emotionality in Journalism

3 Authenticity, Compassion and Personalized Storytelling

4 Towards a Typology of Mediated Anger

5 Shifting Emotional Regimes: Donald Trump’s Angry Populism

6 The Politics of Love: Political Fandom and Social Change

7 The Emotional Architecture of Social Media

Conclusion: Nine Propositions about Emotions, Media and Politics

Notes

References

Index

“As wonderfully topical as this book is, I wish we had all owned it and been able to work with our heavily underlined copies of it for decades, given how superbly it advances and nuances our understanding of the place of emotions in media and politics.”
Jonathan Gray, University of Wisconsin–Madison

“Emotions, Media and Politics moves a complex debate to an impressive new level by articulating brilliantly how mediated political life cannot be understood without taking personal feelings such as love and anger seriously as compasses of rational decision-making. A must-read for scholars of media and communication who want to make sense of Brexit and Putting America First.”
Irene Costera Meijer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen is Professor of Journalism, Media and Communications at Cardiff University.