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Adversarial Political Interviewing pp 357–375Cite as

The Role of Political Interviews in Mainstreaming and Normalizing the Far-Right: A View from Australia

Part of the The Language of Politics book series (TLP)

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to critically explore the strategies employed by journalists when interviewing the contemporary far-right. Drawing on a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of three television interviews with Australia’s most prominent far-right populist politician, Pauline Hanson, this research reveals that journalists employ a suite of interviewing strategies, from neutral and accommodative to confrontational and adversarial. This chapter advances the argument that conventional interviewing strategies are ineffective against the contemporary populist far-right who have benefited from disproportionate media coverage throughout the twenty-first century. It concludes by arguing that journalists must revaluate their strategies when dealing with the far-right to avoid advancing their political project and furthering their mainstreaming and normalization within society.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Human and Social Futures, The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

    Kurt Sengul

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  1. Kurt Sengul
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Correspondence to Kurt Sengul .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

    Prof. Ofer Feldman

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Sengul, K. (2022). The Role of Political Interviews in Mainstreaming and Normalizing the Far-Right: A View from Australia. In: Feldman, O. (eds) Adversarial Political Interviewing. The Language of Politics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0576-6_18

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