Deciphering the Far-Right Media Ecology. The Case of the Global Migration Compact

In the digital era, far-right mobilization has become more flexible in organizing, implementing and mediating protest. A number of recent studies have revealed the important hybridization of par-ties, movements and subcultures in far right politics. What has been especially outstanding is how these different types of actors have formed a multilayered alternative media system that increas-ingly gains influence on mainstream discourse and facilitates the convergence of far-right actors to work on campaigns under the same umbrella. Yet, so far there has been little research on the in-terconnecting and cross-pollinating dynamics of the various platforms, forums and messaging apps that energize far-right mobilization and become a central factor for political efficacy. This paper takes up this lacuna by conceptualizing the media practices of key far right players in the 2018 mobilization against the Global Compact for Migration. Launched by movement actors such as the Identitarian Movement and adopted by the German party AfD, the campaign against the GCM brought far-right concerns transnationally on the political agenda and showcased the full strength of a movement that came from the margins to the mainstream. Drawing on the players and arenas framework and theories of media ecologies, our analysis explores how different types of far right actors (political parties, protest movements, subcultures) in Germany, Austria, Italy, and the UK strategically chose particular media platforms over others and modified their frames accordingly. Secondly, we explore how these different actors coordinated with each other and whether there were conflicts over the main message of the campaign or the use of specific media. Third, and finally, we explore how far right actors managed to spread their discourse from online media to mainstream TV and press and what the trade-offs were in this process. All in all, our findings offers valuable insights to understand the dynamics of this important far right mobiliza-tion campaign and can be useful for scholars, policy makers and civil society alike to effectively respond to these new trends of media ecology.