Page 143 [143]
OCR
Political communication and populism ] 141 On the one hand, we find technological restrictions that are inevitable. For example, in the case of the press, the number of columns, the lack of visuals in radio, the angle of the camera on TV, the available number of characters on community sites (see Twitter), or content filters, are barriers that users can influence. On the other hand, we find the standards of content creators, typically those of social media platforms, or journalists in traditional media. Suppose the content is created to create prestige or make financial profit. In that case, the aspects of consumability are shaped by the followers’ presumed taste and supplemented by forms that are already in the medium’s toolbox. a. Media logic and network logic Media logic and network logic have distinct features. Still, the transition from one to the other does not mean an absolute paradigm shift. Network logic often complements media logic, but it inevitably entails the adaptation of communicators to new technology (West and Orman 2003). Network logic is rooted in the fact that social media works differently to traditional media. Content-making (manufacturing), distribution, and media consumption are organised along different network logic lines than in the media logic. Nevertheless, the theory of network logic is a direct consequence of the theory of media logic. Based on the studies by David Altheide and Robert Snow, media logic describes the process where media transmits and communicates information (Altheide 1985; Altheide and Snow, 1979; 1988). The exact process in political communication is about the political actors’ use of media, or in other words, the way political actors understand and instrumentalise medias communication and message transmission mechanisms. By possessing such knowledge, politicians communication also changes, which affects political communication at large. The network logic acknowledges the importance of information transmission and of media use, but it is rather focused on political and popular culture. The political culture component refers to the values and political behaviour ofindividuals and collective groups. Political culture is defined in the classic concept of Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba through three different subtypes of citizens (political) culture. In the participants culture, citizens are active, supportive, or dismissive in political processes. These are the citizens of modern democracies. In the subject culture, citizens comply with and trust the legality of the state. Feudal societies are typical examples of this culture, where the subjects had few rights (they did not have political rights, for example) as opposed to their obligations (e.g. paying taxes). In a parochial political culture, there are no distinct political functions. States falling apart and ruled by warlords are prime examples (Almond and Verba 1989).
