News media responses to far-right movement parties in Western and Eastern Europe

In the wake of recent crises, new forms of far-right parties have emerged in Europe. With their ‘hybrid’ action repertoires and organisational forms, these ‘movement parties’ straddle the conceptual space between party and movement. Existing studies have concentrated on their internal organisation and their strategies in the electoral and protest arenas. Hitherto neglected, however is their reception by the news media. The study of far-right movement parties in the news media - a crucial interface between institutional politics and public opinion - would enable a better understanding of how the public actually receive information about, and ultimately conceive of, this new party form. This paper pursues this enquiry with an analysis of newspaper coverage of far-right movement parties across cases in Western and Eastern Europe, and asks how it has varied cross-nationally and evolved over time. Firstly, we assess press coverage for the relative salience of themes central to the movement party concept: namely, their action repertoires (contentious rather than just electoral) and organisational repertoires (participatory/plebiscitarian rather than just professional). Then we delve into the reporting of these themes to enquire into the associated topics referred to and the sentiment used. Finally, we map out a typology of the different forms of media responses to far-right movement parties in different media systems. In so doing, the study provides new insights into the structures and processes which influence how the media has responded to the new far-right ‘movement party’ form in Western and Eastern Europe.