Attack in the Form of Defense? Populist Anti-media Tactics to Avoid Being Blamed

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between blame and populism by analyzing the defensive communication strategies employed by right-wing populist leaders in their attacks on the media. The study focuses on Jair Bolsonaro and concludes that he used various strategies to avoid taking responsibility for adverse outcomes while blaming the media as one of his favorite targets. The explorative study draws on qualitative discourse analysis of the presidential narratives to shed light on the paradoxical nature of these defensive strategies. Bolsonaro’s political style involved preemptively neutralizing the media’s critical performance and reacting negatively to any critical coverage that contradicted his version of events and undermined his authority.

Keywords

• Right-wing populist political communication
• blame-avoidance
• anticipative and reactive defensive discursive strategies
• anti-elitism
• attacks against the press