Propaganda feedback loops as communication rituals: Hate speech on talk radio

The goal of this paper is to deepen the clarity of Benkler, Farris, and Robert’s “propaganda feedback loop” concept. It argues that a sizeable portion of the information ecosystem in the United States is characterized by a media logic that demands acceptance of preferred narratives, irrespective of factual accuracy. When an individual or entire news organization fails to abide by the demands of prescribed narratives, no matter how factually unsound they may be, a kind of excommunication occurs; the nonconforming individual or organization is shunned. In this way, community boundary spaces are demarcated by felty to an implicit catechism. Relying on Carey’s “ritual view of communication,” we argue that these episodes can be thought of as moments of affirmation of identity, community, or as Carey puts it, a communication ritual. Communication rituals involve the creation and recreation of community, commonness and communion. It understands an engagement with media content as not only a transmission of information, but also as an affirmation of identity. In short, we aver that propaganda feedback loops are best understood as expressions of communication rituals that reinforce core identity claims. We also argue that, by definition, the assertion of core identity claims of some groups means that other groups are denied access to these same privileged claims. These groups are marginalized, or as Carey might put it, ostracized or excommunicated. We demonstrate our thesis with an empirical investigation of rightwing radio’s treatment of racial and religious minorities in the United States during the period surrounding the 2020 presidential election.