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Curd Knüpfer

@curdknupfer.bsky.social

8.9K followers 1.5K following 1.4K posts

Associate professor of political communication @ddc-sdu.bsky.social, University of Southern Denmark. Focus on digital & right-wing media + parties. Associate Editor @ International Journal of Press/Politics

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · May 21

✨NEW BOOK CHAPTER OUT✨
The Phantom Counter-Public:
Liberal Responsiveness to Far-right Information Networks as the Next Crisis of Public Communication.
doi.org/10.1007/978-...
In: Coleman et al.: Public Communication in Freefall: Revisiting the Work of Jay Blumler.
🧵⤵️

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 1d

TLDR: "In Europe, you can't even be outspokenly Islamophobic without people branding you Islamophobic."

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 1d

The Caldwell of 2009 would segregate European cities.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflect...

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 1d

When you're the author of books like “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam and the West” and “The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties” you can just make up claims about entire demographics and generations and have them printed in the NYT, I guess.

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 1d

PS: this whole thing reads like political commentary in reverse -- rather than condense and critique, it's a whole lot of words to complexify and mask otherwise obvious oversimplification & incompetence.
It's basically "here's what he meant to say" PR work.

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 1d

"But the military of the 2020s has been as overburdened by the imperatives of progressivism as schools were by the duties of racial integration in the 1970s."

...so yes, if your premise is that desegregation was a bit too much of a hassle, then I guess the speech wasn't actually that bad.

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Reposted by Curd Knüpfer

Jakob-Moritz Eberl @jamoeberl.bsky.social · 2d

New publication out in #IJPP! 📑
We study how audience expectations of journalism 📰 shifted during COVID-19 in Austria 🇦🇹 – showing both short-term rally effects & longer-term recalibration 🔄.
Led by @clmron.bsky.social & @danielwiesner.bsky.social , w/ @andreasriedl.bsky.social & me. 1/n

Screenshot of an academic article titled “Rally and Recalibrate: Political Dynamics of Audience Expectations of Journalism During Times of Crisis” published in The International Journal of Press/Politics (OnlineFirst, Sage Journals).
Authors: Claire Roney, Daniel Wiesner, Andreas A. Riedl, and Jakob-Moritz Eberl.
The abstract explains that the study examines how audience expectations of journalism in Austria evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. It identifies shifts toward emerging journalistic roles such as Fact Checker and Science Communicator, based on data from three waves of the Austrian Corona Panel Project. Findings show fluctuating audience expectations tied to changes in public trust and crisis dynamics, emphasizing journalism’s need for adaptability.
Keywords listed: journalism, audience expectations, trust in institutions, crisis attitudes, survey research, COVID-19.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612251375203

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 7d

Putnam-ed!

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 7d

"The royals loved the show."
The rules were negotiated down to... "don’t make fun of royals".

So I guess that leaves the non royals? What did they think?

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 7d

The Saudis didn’t pay big money for famous American comedians because they were super eager for comedy, they paid for PR like this.

Bill Burr Defends Performing at Controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival: “They’re Just Like Us”

The actor-comedian details his experience at the event: "Definitely one of the top three experiences I've ever had ... I think it's going to lead to a lot of positive things."

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 7d

That said, I maybe would have expected a collective "hooah" or some such sound...

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 7d

Honest question, since I am not familiar with US military protocols:
Are high-ranking members of the military even allowed to clap at these events?

Based on inaugurations and state-of-the-union addresses, it seems like they generally don't do this?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Trump to a room of generals: "I've never walked into a room so silent before. Just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud."

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 8d

Not even the solitary sympathetic bro in the audience going "woo. yeah" was really committed to his reaction.

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 8d

I’ve never wanted audience reaction shots more than I do for this speech.

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 8d

Excellent Op-ed by @pastpunditry.bsky.social, on the history of the censorious right.
What she observes here for the US also goes for other national contexts, where formations on the far right often self-depict & are seen as free-speech absolutists, when they're anything but...

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 8d

This was basically my dissertation. Slightly expanded to...

Am I watching things on television that are different from what's happening AND from what other people are watching?

Reposted by Curd Knüpfer

Philipp Lorenz-Spreen @lorenzspreen.bsky.social · 9d

Maybe a loss of trust can be traced back to growing discrepancies between public debate and one's own information environment. In an increasingly fragmented info- and social space and resulting majority illusion, this poses a fundamental problem as media and institutions can never cover all topics.

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 10d

He's tapping into a dark well of connective affect.
Meanwhile AI is drawing from an established and culturally embedded narrative that it can easily visualize.

A technologically facilitated form of elite "deep storytelling" that might seem ridiculous to most, but is sure to resonate with some.

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 10d

PS: This might be his most overtly QAnon-coded post yet.
The movement feeds not just on conspiracies, but on a quasi-religious faith in imminent salvation.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medbed

Medbed - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 10d

Wow!
AI is so advanced, it can now generate entire videos for a regime promising made up miracle cures, while slashing funding for medical research and cutting social benefits.

Practically zero propaganda skills required.

Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 10d

Trump tonight appears to have pushed the false "medbed" conspiracy theory, which has spread in the far-right internet over the years. www.yahoo.com/news/qanon-c...

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 11d

Bots function as amplifiers and build network bridges.
So what probably happened here is that institutions outside of the right wing ecosystem became aware and then further amplified, partly due to these activities.

Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 12d

I don't think it's a good idea to use "left-wing" or "right-wing" as categories to classify terrorism.

These terms stem from parliamentary politics & blur more than they reveal. More precise labels should be applied -- which would also lead to more meaningful comparative values.

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 12d

Hey #PolComm folks!
The #ICA26 @icahdq.bsky.social election for the PolComm Division @polcomm.bsky.social is now open.
There are fantastic candidates running for Vice Chair, Early Career Rep, & International Liaison.
Go read their statements & cast your votes! 🗳️
www.icahdq.org/surveys/?id=...

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 13d

You wouldn't know this from following mediated debates in Germany, but it turns out there are reasons beyond illdefined anxieties about immigration for where and why the far right wins votes...

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 13d

Now out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. In our new article, @denis-cohen.bsky.social @thmskrr.bsky.social and I show that where local rent prices increase more, residents with lower incomes become more likely to support the radical right AfD.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 13d

Spoke to the Danish Online Magazine @kforum.bsky.social about "Ragebaiting" and how the attention economy can be exploited for political gain.
kforum.dk/nyheder/digi...

Den amerikanske højrefløj bruger "ragebait" som strategi, men det ses også i Danmark

Mennesker reagerer meget på følelser af vrede og forargelse, og det får os til at dele indhold meget mere end andre følelser, forklarer retoriker om online-fænomenet ragebait.

kforum.dk

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 13d

Our political debates (in Europe and the US) are missing a crucial part of the real story:
The quiet consolidations, planned mergers, & vying for Trump’s favor that will decide who becomes America’s Next Top-Mogul.

Jeremy Littau @jeremylittau.com · 13d

For all the handwringing about alleged lefty Bluesky, if this TikTok structure holds the vast majority of social media algorithms (TikTok, FB/Insta, X) would be under the control of right wingers or Trump-suckups. Media is a window on the world and whose algorithm is really creating that frame?

Michael Dell, Murdochs will also be involved in TikTok deal, Trump says | CNN Business

Tech and media giants Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch will be a part of the group to take over TikTok’s algorithm in the acquisition of the social media platform’s US operat...

www.cnn.com

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Curd Knüpfer @curdknupfer.bsky.social · 13d

Alles Gute und welcome back!