Normalising right-wing alternative media perspectives: A cross national study of US and UK mainstream media systems

Cushion, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7164-8283 2025. Normalising right-wing alternative media perspectives: A cross national study of US and UK mainstream media systems. International Communication Gazette

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Abstract

In this article, we critically examine the degree to which left-wing and right-wing alternative media appeared in US and UK mainstream media. We develop a distinctive comparative approach by carrying out a comprehensive content analysis of references to US and UK alternative media sites between 2017 and 2021 in each country’s mainstream news media systems. The study identified 3,481 references in total and revealed that mainstream media featured alternative right-wing sites far more than left-wing sites, and their credibility as information sources was rarely questioned or challenged by professional journalists. Our cross-national comparative study also identified where different media and political systems enhanced and moderated the perspectives of alternative media, and their contributors in mainstream media. We argue that the more national media systems evolve into market-driven and deregulated environments then the more the editorial influence of right-wing partisan media will increase and conflate with the world of mainstream media.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	1748-0485
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 March 2025
Date of Acceptance:	26 March 2025
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2025 12:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177294

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