Uncritical News Interviews Raise Support and Perceived Popularity of Extreme Right

What the Study Asks

Diane Bolet and Florian Foos (BJPS) investigate whether routine media exposure to extreme‑right activists helps normalize their views. The authors ask two linked questions: does watching real broadcast interviews increase individual agreement with extreme statements, and does such exposure change perceptions of how many others in the population share those views?

How the Authors Tested It

The paper reports population‑based survey experiments in two countries—Australia and the United Kingdom—that use real-world interviews with extreme‑right activists aired on Sky News as stimuli. Respondents were randomly exposed to these interview clips (and, in the UK, to a version where journalists applied critical questioning) and then asked about their agreement with extreme statements and their perceptions of how widely those statements are endorsed by others.

What They Found

• Across both countries, exposure to uncritical interviews increased respondents' agreement with extreme‑right statements.
• The same exposure also raised respondents' estimates of how many others in the population agree with those statements—suggesting a perceived‑norms effect.
• In the UK treatment that featured critical interviewing, journalists' challenges damaged the activist's image and reduced persuasive effects on individual agreement, but viewers still reported higher perceived public support for the extreme statements.

Implications for Media and Policy

The results point to a concrete mechanism for the spread and normalization of extreme political ideas: routine, uncritical platforming not only persuades some viewers but also inflates perceptions of how common those views are, which can further legitimize them. Critical interviewing can blunt direct persuasion but may not eliminate the amplification of perceived support. The findings provide evidence for journalists, editors, and regulators weighing how best to cover extremist actors without unintentionally normalizing their positions.