US elections, 2020 elections, Sanders, Warren, Trump

US Elections 2020

File
The Editors
03/02/2020

The American Elections of 2020 are already in full swing. In this new file, Diggit Magazine zooms in on the US 2020 elections, its candidates, the movements and especially on the impact of digitalization. Diggit magazine does not cover the campaign minute -per-minute, but delivers in-depth analyses of the campaigns and the larger issues influencing the elections. No news, but research that provides people with insight in the political battle. 

Donald trump

Trump, lies, and hydroxychloroquine: a case study

Article
Victoria Mohr
15/11/2020
13 minutes to read

This paper analyzes the media storm around hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 treatment through the lens of Golebiewski and boyd's concept of data voids (2018) and Venturini's concept of 'junk news' (2019). 

"Dems Fraud": Far Right and Data Voids on DuckDuckGo.com

Article
Carmen Gabriela Lupu
12/11/2020
11 minutes to read

This article deals with the 'dems fraud' data void on DuckDuckGo. While striving to overcome filter bubbles, DuckDuckGo has been overtaken by the New Right's optimized information ecosystem that only spreads their views. 

trumpswar

The Army for Trump and Trump’s war against Sleepy Joe

Article
Ico Maly
01/10/2020
15 minutes to read

Trump's 2020 election campaign is adopting war metaphors in an attempt at big organizing aiming to create an "army" of supporters. These efforts are supported by a masterful use of the hybrid media system against Joe Biden's most moderate campaign.

nevertrump, Lincoln project, republicans against trump

The new Jeremiahs: #NeverTrump and the rise of the Lincoln Project

Column
Robert Moore
22/06/2020
5 minutes to read

Over the past several weeks a new force has emerged in the 2020 US presidential election, one that has already reshaped the ecology of political communication in America—even as it has received relatively scant coverage in the US media, and almost none in Europe. 

BLM, black lives matter, Floyd, Trump, racism, anti-racist culture

The George Floyd Uprising and Anti-Racist Culture Change

Column
Rosalyn Negrón
17/06/2020
9 minutes to read

As of today, protests condemning George Floyd's murder by police officer Derek Chauvin have taken place in all 50 U.S. states (more than 750 U.S. cities), and in more than 60 countries. The anger and despair that was channeled through massive uprisings, now mingle with hope and possibility. A return to status quo appears to no longer be politically viable.

Ellen DeGeneres: talk show host or CIA agent?

Paper
Iris Dumoulin
16/03/2020
12 minutes to read

In 2018, people believed that Eric Trump suggested that Ellen DeGeneres is part of a hidden government within the US. This essay analyzes how this conspiracy theory has come into existence, who plays a role in it, and what this means online.

Pelosi-Trump, October 2019 meeting

Pelosi and Trump: Choreographies of conflict

Column
Jan Blommaert
12/02/2020
10 minutes to read

Pelosi and Trump don't get along too well. A number of emblematic pictures document this conflict, and in each of them concrete body movements are sensed to tell the story.

QAnon appearing at Trump rallies.

QAnon: a wild conspiracy theory with Donald Trump’s support?

Paper
Idhuna Pastoor
29/01/2020
24 minutes to read

The pro-Trump conspiracy theory QAnon has been infiltrating mainstream media at a fast pace. While the president has never publicly stated his support for the theory, many clues suggest that his stance towards its supporters is not unfavorable.

Elisabeth Warren

Elisabeth Warren, clickbait and truth

Column
Jan Blommaert
15/01/2020
6 minutes to read

Elisabeth Warren's statement on her male contenders being "electoral losers" enables us to examine the ways in which clickbait actually works.

#warrenselfie, Elisabeth Warren posing for a selfie

Elizabeth Warren: Campaigning with selfies

Article
Rianne Janssen
15/01/2020
11 minutes to read

Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic candidate for the 2020 US presidential elections, uses the strategy of the ‘selfie lines’. What is it and how does it work?

AOC, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez,

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's populism and relatability

Article
Nikoletta Georgiou
13/01/2020
12 minutes to read

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest congresswoman ever to be elected and a rising political star. This article analyses her "relatable" media presence with regard to how it boosts her continuously growing influence.

identity politics, race, conservatives

Conservative critiques of identity politics as divisive

Column
Rosalyn Negrón
13/01/2020
11 minutes to read

Rosalyn Negron unpacks the logics that underlie conservative critiques of left identity politics and zooms in on the specific significance of this discursive frame among conservatives.

Twitter politics

Twitter politics: the next stage

Column
Jan Blommaert
07/01/2020
6 minutes to read

Two recent incidents on Twitter in the wake of the US attack on Iran's general Soleimani show us how Twitter continues to define politics as we know it.

A Women's March protester holds up a MeToo sign

Will the #MeTooVoters make a difference in the 2020 elections?

Article
Maartje van Wagenberg
10/12/2019
12 minutes to read

The founders of the #MeToo movement have recently launched a new hashtag: #MeTooVoter. What is the purpose of this hashtag and what are the chances of success for the #MeTooVoter movement in the 2020 elections? 

Elizabeth Warren and Facebook

Elizabeth Warren's battle against paid political speech

Article
Jelske van Es
28/11/2019
14 minutes to read

Since unregulated paid political advertising is still not banned from all social media platforms, Elizabeth Warren has become a central figure in the battle against this spread of misinformation to curtail its influence on the 2020 elections.

AOC, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, maiden speech, CSPAN

How AOC turned C-SPAN into a media hit

Column
Jan Blommaert
21/08/2019
6 minutes to read

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez congressional hearing interventions have turned C-SPAN's traditionally unspectacular broadcasts into a highly successful hybrid media format.

Emma Watson on Framing

Column
Jan Blommaert
16/05/2019
6 minutes to read

Emma Watson's Instagram reaction to the Alabama abortion bill accurately exposes the work of framing in public debates, and shows an educational use of social media. 

Climate change, right wing, Climate change denial

Climate change and its denial by right-wing media

Article
Jorge Hovens
15/01/2019
14 minutes to read

An analysis of the climate change denial rhetoric from the American right-wing media like Breitbart, Fox News and The Blaze. 

algorithmic populism, bots, social bots, Trump, make america great again, algorithmic activism

Algorithmic populism and algorithmic activism

Article
Ico Maly
10/10/2018
12 minutes to read

Digitalization gave birth to a new kind of populism: algorithmic populism. Algorithmic populism cannot be understood without taking the uptake and algorithmic activism in particular into account.