Project Summary
This project examines an emergent series of tactics used by political actors (i.e. politicians, lobbyists, political groups, etc.) that we are calling ‘Dark Political Communication’ (DPC). DPC differs markedly from existing, well-established modes of political communication, as it often involves the deliberate spread of disinformation, use of highly inflammatory language, antagonism towards the press and democratic institutions, as well as actions that seek to exacerbate social discord. In this project, we will provide the first-ever complete account of DPC tactics, and provide a series of recommendations to journalists about how their practice can best evolve to address this novel communication paradigm.
Both in Australia, and around the world, democracy is under serious threat from malicious political forces that aim to stoke social discord, increase cynicism in government, and undermine the public’s belief in collective action on pressing global challenges. This project, the first of its kind, studies these forces under the umbrella term ‘Dark Political Communication’ (or, ‘DPC’). DPC has already seen fundamental changes to the way that politics is conducted in our society, and severely limited our ability to respond effectively to major crises (including climate change and, more recently, the global COVID-19 pandemic). Unfortunately, the media is yet to properly understand the full extent of these changes. Even worse, many DPC operatives achieve success by exploiting the media’s operating ‘rules’ (e.g. objectivity), meaning that journalists (often unwittingly) add to these problems, rather than work against them. This project provides a comprehensive account of how DPC operates, identifies the political figures who exploit it, helps understand how it is undermining our democracy, and provides recommendations to journalists about how they better limit its impact. Our findings will highlight, for the public, the media industry, as well as academia, the pernicious effects of DPC, and thus help to improve the overall state of our political system.
DMRC research program
This project contributes to the research within the following DMRC research programs:
Computational Communication & Culture
Transforming Media Industries and Cultures
Project team
Project outputs
Project funding
- Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Projects scheme