Campaigning in Austria Case Study: Austrian Presidential Election (24 April 2016) • communicators: campaign organization; • campaign media & content: mainstream campaign tools (posters, adverts) and online campaigning; • mediated campaigns: selected, filtered, and shaped by journalistic gatekeepers (e.g., interviews, TV debates); • discussion: the presidential elections as a game changer for political campaigning in Austria? Campaigning in Austria Austria's changing political communication environment characterized by • modernization and professionalization of political campaigns; • political and media organizations as key players (personalized campaigns; television as main source of election news); • slowly but steadily increasing importance of online campaigning (websites and social media platforms); Austrian Presidential Election • will be held on 24 April 2016 with a second round on 22 May 2016; • election ad personam (people vote directly for the candidate); • six candidates compete for a six years term in the office (Rudolf Hundstorfer for the Social Democratic Party, Andreas Khol for the Austrian People's Party; Norbert Hofer for the Freedom Party; Alexander Van der Bellen as independent candidate endorsed by The Greens; Irmgard Griss as independent candidate; Richard Lugner as independent candidate); Presentation of Political Posters Presidential candidate Alexander Van der Bellen presents the first The Austrian Freedom Party presents the presidential candidate Norbert Hofer wave of political posters an 21 March 2016 and the first wave of political posters on 28 January 2016 Political Posters • well-established medium with lasting importance for political campaigns in Austria; • condensed medium of visual political communication that allows to directly communicate messages in a minimum amount of time (Geise 2016, 1208); • solid advertising acceptance, high contact frequency, can induce agenda-setting, priming, and framing-effects (ibid., 1210); Political Posters "From a cultural or historical communication science perspective, posters are research sources revealing not only information on their producers and contractors, but also on their political, economic, and social production context. They document the opinions of political players, reveal their programmatic messages, display favorites and contenders, and images they try to convey. Through their communication style - (image) language, visual, and typographical design, color scheme and tonality - they provide an impression of the inherent political culture and a sense for the general political tone" (Geise 2016,1211; emphasis added). WITH CERTAINTY. FOR US. double-meaning of "Sicherheit" = security vs. safety First and second wave of political posters by Rudolf Hundstorfer (Social Democratic Party) Österreich stärken. 24. April EXPERIENCE MAKES STRONG. First wave of political posters by Andreas Khol (Austrian People's Party) WWW.N 0 H BE RTMO f E R_ AT AUFSTEHEN FÜR ÖSTERREICH „DEINE HEIMAT braucht DICH JETZT" NORBERT H^FER BUNDESPRÄSIDENT ' HNORRFRTHOFER;>r>lfi Standing up for Austria "YOUR HOME COUNTRY NEEDS YOU NOW" SHOW COLOURS / FLAG truthfulness, freedom, patriotism First wave of political posters by Norbert Hofer {Freedom Party) UNABHÄNGIG. FÜR ÖSTERREICH. IRMGARD GRISS INDEPENDENT. FOR AUSTRIA. Political pgster by independent candidate Irmgard Griss H^i iROTiSCHWÄRZEM AKTIV LUGNER FOR PRESIDENT tj lacebook.com/lugnerrichard f£J laceoookconVcathylugner tJ facehook comrtugnercHy vxten www.lugner.at Political poster by independent candidate Richard Lugner AGAINST STAGNATION (of red and black parties) ACTIVE INDEPENDENT LUGNER FOR PRESIDENT Online Campaigning Irmgard Griss ß Rudolf Hundstorfer w w w Ynuflfllfl Ynuüfflfi YoufíHíTS YnuíTO Richard Lugner Alexander Van der Bellen y ar flickr flickr Online Campaigning 9m Irmgard Grlss Norbert Hofer R jdolf Hundstorfer Andreas Khol Richard Lugner Alexa r f 19.670 ■ f 11.810 f 30.704 f Alexander Van der Bellen 60.204 551 1.917 943 ü '» Ii 5.644 March 2016: 3,6 million people in Austria use Facebook March 2016:148.000 people in Austria use Twitter Fanshop Merchandise Articles | Fanshop "Fan der Bellen" (fanderbellen.at) Giveaways Giveaways | http://orf.at/wahl/beingpresident/stories/2334667/ | Pictures: ORF.at/Dominique Hammer Fundraising and Donations Zeitverlauf ALLE SPENDEN BIS € 200 BISC 1.000 BIS t 3.500 ÜBER € 3.500 1O.12.2015 10.2.2016 13.4.2016 Griss /j 825.532 € DATEN: Wabsites der Kandidaten Fotos APA. Illustrationen derSLandardal/Leitner Personalized Storytelling Development of meaningful narratives in order to define candidates and their values and ideas; Mingling of biographic narrations with campaign stories (e.g. refugee story of Van der Bellen; sport accident of Norbert Hofer; common man strategy of Rudolf Hundstorfer) Image Videos • support campaign storytelling; • establish a tonality for the campaign; • emotionalize and mobilize supporters; • emphasize core values, ideas, target groups; Image Videos Image Videos Video stills taken from the image videos of Andreas Khol and Norbert Hofer It TEIL LAND'VOLK UND TRACHT Illustrationen aus: Marboe, Ernst (Hg.) 1948: Das Österreich Buch, Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Staatsdruckerei, Wien, Seite 157 und 188 Fotos: Österreichisch Verkehrswerbung, in: Ziak, Karl 1953: Österreich: schöpferisch schaffend feiernd, Wien: Verlag des Österreichischen Gewerschaftsbundes, Seite 256 Image Videos "Die Zeiten ändern sich!" ["Times are changing!"]. Image video of Alexander Van der Bellen, 15 April 2016 Image Videos Video stills taken from the image video "Die Zeiten ändern sich!" ["Times are changing!"] of Alexander Van der Bellen Mediated Campaign ORF (public Service) • 14 April 2016 "Zweiergespräche" (15 minutes); • 21 April 2016 "Elefantenrunde"; • "Pressestunde"; • 31 March/5 April/7 April "Wahlfahrt"; PULS4 (private TV) • 3 April 2016 "Elefantenrunde" • "Kampf um die Hofburg: das Duell" ATV (private TV) • "Klartext" Mediated Campaign • "game frames"; • focus on polls and evaluation; • "horserace"; • tactics and strategy; Mernes Campaign as "Game Changer"? Extension and diversification: • communicators: extension of developments that took shape across earlier election cycles (e.g. campaign channels); • content: online campaigning amplifies existing electoral practices (e.g. storytelling and content strategies; development of knowledge, skills, practices); • mediated campaigns: TV-debates and interviews stay relevant, "speed confrontations" and infotainment become more relevant;