Conference Agenda

This contribution investigates the case of “BreadTube”, a left-wing counterpublic that first formed on YouTube in opposition to the dominance of right-wing voices and networks on the platform. To gain a better understanding of the inner workings of this media-based collectivity, this article analyzes an internal controversy to reconstruct the tacit assumptions of various participants about the counterpublic’s aims, values, shortcomings as well as its economic and technological prerequisites. To capture the controversy for exploration, an innovative approach was employed that adapts Clarke's Situational Analysis as a framework to integrate both interpretative mapping and computational network analysis to properly account for the videos high level of intertextual referentiality as well as their algorithmic interrelatedness. This digitally and visually enhanced Situational Analysis framework was able to deliver a comprehensive insight into the complex and dynamic constellation of perspectives and segments BreadTube is composed of and illuminated arenas in which adverse interests overlap and conflict arises over questions of representation, legitimacy, shared history, and resource allocation.

This paper examines the transnational influence of far-right ideologies emanating from the United States, focusing on the figure of Donald Trump and his resonance within Portuguese-speaking YouTube communities. The study analyses 9,852 search results, encompassing 2,746 unique videos collected between October 15 and November 6, 2024. It identifies how political content and news narratives related to Trump are consumed and disseminated among far-right audiences in Brazil and Portugal. A significant finding is the role of YouTube's algorithm in prioritizing far-right content, which profoundly impacts the thematic narratives and sources that creators leverage to construct political discourses around Trump. Despite most videos being in English (89.01%), a notable subset (5.43%) were in Portuguese, predominantly from Brazilian channels, with only two Portuguese channels identified. The findings of this study have significant implications for understanding transnational far-right movements. The study reveals that the Brazilian YouTube ecosystem is characterized by themes of economic liberalism and financial prosperity, with moral conservatism notably absent. Comment analysis highlights narratives framing Trump as a divinely chosen leader, with parallels drawn to Jair Bolsonaro. Videos in the Portuguese language are mainly short, mobile-oriented productions, emphasizing economic commentary over traditional political rhetoric. The research underscores the role of digital platforms in fostering transnational far-right cohesion, exploring shared ideological and strategic alignments across Portuguese-speaking communities.

International news organizations have historically reinforced narratives of poverty, conflict, and crisis in their portrayal of Africa, often aligning with broader geopolitical power structures. While recent years have seen the rise of new broadcasters such as Al Jazeera, CGTN, and TRT World, it remains contested whether they challenge or reproduce dominant Anglo-American media framings. The emergence of digital platforms, particularly YouTube, has further complicated these dynamics, enabling both alternative storytelling and the persistence of existing hierarchies.

This study examines whether news coverage of Africa on YouTube by international organizations diverges from legacy media portrayals, whether new actors disrupt established narratives, and how audiences engage with these representations. A dataset of approximately 250,000 videos from twelve major international broadcasters is analyzed using BERTopic, a machine-learning-based topic modeling technique, to identify dominant themes and frames in news coverage. Audience engagement is examined through sentiment analysis and discursive clustering of YouTube comments, offering insights into whether users challenge or reinforce dominant narratives.

By critically examining the intersection of international journalism, digital platforms, and audience agency, this paper contributes to ongoing debates about the role of online media in shaping global news flows. It interrogates whether YouTube facilitates a rupture in traditional representations of Africa or whether it ultimately serves as a new distribution channel for entrenched media narratives. As global media consumption increasingly shifts to digital platforms, understanding how Africa is framed in these spaces and how audiences respond is crucial for broader discussions on media influence, representation, and power.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fostered transnational information flows and anti-vaccine sentiment through digital media. While research on transnational right-wing populist coalitions is growing, less attention has been paid to audience-level overlaps in right-wing media ecosystems, particularly between Canada and the U.S., despite Canada’s longstanding cultural reliance on the U.S. Using YouTube comments from 11 media channels across 43 videos, including Canadian outlets across the political spectrum and three U.S. channels referencing the Emergencies Act from February 14 to 16, 2022, I examine the extent to which the Freedom Convoy, an anti-vaccine movement, facilitated audience convergence between Canadian and American users on YouTube. I employ a bipartite affiliation network to construct two different channel one-mode networks based on overlapping words and users. Results reveal that Fox News plays a central role in both word- and user-based networks and strongly connects with Toronto Sun, a Canadian right-wing local media outlet. Additionally, CNN and Global News appear to facilitate cross-cutting exposure, significantly overlapping with Fox News, while Canadian center and left-wing outlets exhibit lower user overlap with each other, suggesting fewer highly engaged pro-Emergencies Act users. These findings imply that the convergence of right-wing media ecosystems between the two countries accelerated during the pandemic, extended beyond their own media communities, and shaped discussions even within left-leaning platforms in both countries.