Radical Right Media as 'Anger Mobilisation Mechanisms': Or How the Radical Right Co-opted Left-Wing Protest Repertoires and Tactics to Oppose the Global Compact for Migration

The current paper analyses the role of radical right media in promoting and organizing mobilization against the Global Compact for Migration. On the basis of content analysis of the “alternative” sources "Journalisten Watch" and "Politically Incorrect News" in Germany and "Breitbart", "Westmonster" and "Politicalite" in the UK, I show how radical right media in these two contexts have actively engaged in petitioning, crowd-funding and protest organization apart from simply providing information. While most analyses of the role of radical right media so far have focused on the quality of information and the presence of “fake news”, I insist on the need to interpret these “alternative media” as part of a transnationally organized radical right social movement that has increasingly co-opted left-wing protests repertoires and tactics. Disinformation alone would have had much less impact than the current combination of disinformation, highly biased (but factually correct) information and a co-ordinated political strategy. Thus, I argue for the need to analyse radical right media as “anger mobilization mechanisms” that not only fuel the anger of the public with appropriately chosen and framed news but also channel this anger in petitions, online campaigns and offline street protests. This unabashedly biased and mobilization-oriented approach is what distinguishes radical right media from mainstream media and guarantees them a loyal and dedicated "supporter base”.