many other European countries , has experienced a political shift to the right in recent years . In particular , the regions in the former territory of the German Democratic Republic tend to vote more right-wing than the western German states . Furthermore , as the voting age for the European elections in June 2024 will be 16 , it is important to consider TikTok as a source of political communication .
Therefore , the TikTok account @ mutzurwahrheit90 of Ulrich Siegmund , leader of the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt , will be analysed in order to position it in the alternative media landscape . Using Mayring ' s qualitative content analysis on 3 short videos , categories will be revealed , so that it will be possible to gain a deeper understanding of what consumers can take away from these videos with regard to the upcoming elections . This brings me to the research question : To what extent can the TikTok account @ mutzurwahrheit90 be classified as an alternative medium ? What are the underlying strategies of the TikTok videos analysed ?
First , it is necessary to understand the possibilities of classifying alternative media , and then to see how far-right media are positioned in the alternative media landscape . As TikTok is a highly frequented and still young medium , the working methods will be presented to understand the structure . The results of the content analysis are then presented and discussed in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the strategies and position of Ulrich Siegmund ' s Tik Tok account .
There are different approaches to defining alternative media . Many attempts have been made to capture media forms . Jeppesen ( 2016 , 55-56 ) summarises several contradictions and tensions that scholars negotiate in order to describe alternative media . The first point seems to be a key issue in the field : whether farright media can be counted as alternative media , given that most alternative media content comes from predominantly left-wing perspectives . Atton ( 2004 , XIV-XV ) and La Brosse et al . ( 2019 , 2 ) argue that far-right , populist or conservative media cannot be excluded from the alternative mediascape . Regarding the purpose of such media , a counterhegemonic character is often presented , while La Brosse et al . see them as accessible to any political , cultural or religious movement . They base their argument on the absence of these perspectives in mainstream media , which need to be added or clarified ( ibid ., 3 ). Atton , on the other hand , sees the goal of maintaining the hegemonic structure through the media of the extreme right ( Atton 2004 , 88 ).
In contrast to mainstream media , the nature of production processes plays an important role in defining alternative media . According to Atton ( Gehl 2015 , 2 ), alternative media offer the possibility of democratic participation in their creation . In this way , the voices of minorities can also be heard . Conversely , in the case of the British National Party ' s website , real participation and the creation of discourse among its members was very limited . In this way , this media project was re-created as “ a community with closure , where the principles of authoritarian populism
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