Trumpism à la Norway? Politicians and social media in an election year
Fritt Ord and the Institute for Social Research invite the public to a debate on Norwegian politicians and social media on Tuesday, 24 January 2017, 7 – 9 p.m. at Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, 0258 Oslo, featuring Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud, Gunn Enli, Espen Teigen, Frithjof Jacobsen and Eivind Trædal. Arnfinn Midtbøen will be moderator.
Speakers:
Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud, media expert and researcher at the Institute for Social Research
Gunn Enli, professor, Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo
Commentators:
Espen Teigen, political adviser for Minister of Immigration and Integration Sylvi Listhaug, the Party of Progress
Hans Petter Sjøli, commentator and head of the comments desk at the newspaper VG
Eivind Trædal, City Council representative for the Green Party in Oslo and at the top of the Green list in Aust-Agder County
Moderator:
Arnfinn H. Midtbøen, researcher at the Institute for Social Research
Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States on 20 January 2017; we have been witness to an election campaign in which his tweets have attracted enormous attention. As we move towards a new parliamentary election in Norway on 11 September this year, we would like to draw attention to our Norwegian politicians and their use of social media. The media’s privileged position is being challenged when politicians engage in direct dialogue with voters. How are the social media changing politicians’ relationships to voters and to journalists? Is politicians’ use of social media an expression of the confidence crisis in respect of the media we are seeing in countries such as the USA and the UK? Are the social media contributing to the polarisation or democratisation of the public debate?
This event is part of the research project “”/en/langtidsprosjekter/fritt-ords-monitorprosjekt/“>The status of freedom of expression in Norway”, which is being managed by the Institute for Social Research on assignment for Fritt Ord.
