How the Far-Right Extremists 'Scapegoat' their Political Opponents in Mass Media:
A Hungarian Case Study
คำสำคัญ:
right-wing populism, illiberal democracy, George Soros, Viktor Orbánบทคัดย่อ
The media have become a powerful propaganda tool due to the technological disruption in the present day. Many governments tend to change their techniques from media censorship to creation of their own propaganda media. Taking the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, as an example, this article aims to illustrate how a right-wing populist, uses the government-controlled media, such as billboard campaigns and national consultation letters, to attack his political opponent George Soros. Different types of media platforms have been used to either spread false stories or threaten refugees and migrants. They further exaggerate that George Soros cooperates with the European Union to support refugees and migrants to enter Europe. Furthermore, Prime Minister Orbán and the Fidesz Party empowered the mass media to strategically politicize certain historical events in order to tighten their grips of political power, which succeeded in shifting Hungary into an ‘illiberal democracy state’.
This paper explores various aspects from literature on European Studies. Firstly, it adds a sheer amount of interdisciplinary research examining how right-wing populists use the media to legitimate their ruling and policy implementation. Secondly, the article supplements a vast body of analytical research identifying a set of political propaganda and discourses that have been conducted through the media. Finally, this article distinctively uses an in-depth case study analysis to relate between causes and factors.
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