Abstract
This chapter considers the National Rifle Association (NRA) as not merely a lobbying outfit, trade association, or hobbyist group, but as a full-fledged mediasphere. Since the early 2000s, the NRA has aggressively expanded its footprint within the broader right-wing media environment-it publishes four print magazines and a highly integrated array of micro-targeted online print and video content, social media platforms, and original online television programming. Via a content analysis of NRA.org, a site that aggregates and prioritizes content from across the group’s multimedia platforms, this chapter employs critical discourse analysis to illuminate the site’s populist themes and rhetorical styles. It finds that the NRA combines the trappings of news genres and right-wing discourses with populist modes of expression to amplify and reinforce the deep affective ties between gun ownership and conservative political identity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | News on the Right |
Subtitle of host publication | Studying Conservative News Cultures |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 84-105 |
Number of pages | 22 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780190913540 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2020 |
Keywords
- Conservatism
- Conservative news
- Critical discourse analysis
- Digital media
- National rifle association
- Political identity
- Populism
- Rhetorical analysis
- Social media
- Streaming television
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Social Sciences