Journalism and Populism

Populism is defined by its perception and is used by discussants in political debates, and by commentators and academic observers when they intend to unmask or disqualify certain propositions, political attitudes, campaign platforms or manifestos of political parties. Although Lithuania’s media elites’ perceptions of populism matter because their filtering of contents impacts on public opinion, research has not investigated the topic. This study is based on the findings of a questionnaire and a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews with selected Lithuanian media elites. The study reveals a pronounced divergence from the negative views of populism of large urban and regional newspapers, to the ambivalent views of local newspapers. The study speculates the use of contrasting reader-feedback mechanisms may be the cause of the divide. The study places the findings within the broader context of information methodology practices in the press in both Lithuania and other countries.