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THE RHETORIC OF POWER IN IMAGES OF WORLD LEADERS. Dr. A.W.M. (Willem) Koetsenruijter Leiden University, the Netherlands Dept. Journalism & New Media koets@wxs.nl. … carefully composed and chosen to communicate specific ideas about leadership and power. Image management.
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THE RHETORIC OF POWERIN IMAGESOF WORLD LEADERS Dr. A.W.M. (Willem) Koetsenruijter Leiden University, the Netherlands Dept. Journalism & New Media koets@wxs.nl
… carefully composed and chosen to communicate specific ideas about leadership and power Image management
Hofstede’s theory on cultural values Four dimensions • individualism – collectivism • uncertainty avoidance • power distance • masculinity – femininity
GENERAL Outline RESEARCH QUESTION By what Rhetorical Means is Power established in Media Portraits of Political Leaders? THEORY Power Distance (Hofstede), Social Distance Theory (Hall, Bogardus), Semiotics (Kress & Van Leeuwen), Rhetoric.
Social Distance “the lack of availability and relational openness – of variable intensity – of a subject in regard to others, perceived and acknowledged as different on the basis of their inclusion in a social category. It is the result of the dynamic interaction of factors situated on three different dimensions of space: physical, symbolic and geometrical. (Cesareo, 2007, p11)
SIX Variables NoC: Nature of Candidate PoV: Point of View FEx: Facial Expression ImA: Image Act INt: Interaction PDi: PhysicalDistance
Nature of candidate PSD small • Family type • Outdoor type • Father- mother type • Glad toseeyou • Relaxed leader • Dynamic Speaker • Media star • Stressed leader • Promised leader PSD big
NATURE OF CANDIDate Family type: socialdistance = low
NATURE OF CANDIDate Outdoor type
NATURE OF CANDIDate Father / mother type
NATURE OF CANDIDate Glad to C you
NATURE OF CANDIDate Relaxed leader
NATURE OF CANDIDate Dynamical Speaker: socialdistance = higher
NATURE OF CANDIDate Media Star
NATURE OF CANDIDate Stressed leader
NATURE OF CANDIDate Promised leader: socialdistance = high
POINT OF VIEW PSD small PSD big • Camera equals point of view • Camera higher than point of view • Camera lower than point of view
PHYSICAL DISTANCE PSD small PSD big • Intimate • Close personal • Far personal • Close social • Far social • Public
POINT OF VIEW PSD small PSD big • Camera equals point of view • Camera higherthan point of view • Camera lowerthan point of view Value perceivedsocialdistance (PSD) = 1 / (n of possiblevalues) = 0,33 1 = 0,33 2 = 0,66 3 = 0,99
PHYSICAL DISTANCE PSD small PSD big • Intimate • Close personal • Far personal • Close social • Far social • Public Value perceivedphysicaldistance (PPD) = 1 / (n of possiblevalues) = 0,167 1 = 0,167 4 = 0,67 2 = 0,33 5 = 0,85 3 = 0,83 6 = 0,99
SIX Variables The six variables form a compound scale to measure Perceived Social Distance (PSD): (NOC + POV + INT + DIST + FAC + IMA) = PSD Scale’s homogenity Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.65. Inter coder reliability on the separate variables Krippendorff’s alpha >0.8
Hypotheses H1: The use of rhetorical means can be explained from a model based on increasing or decreasing Social Distance. H2:Social Distance is closely connected to Power Distance. H3: Photographs show a difference in Social Distance in photographs from leaders from a High Power Distance Country and a Low Power Distance Country.
600 photographs Content analysis on a random sample from 600 Google Images 300 x Obama and 300 x Khadaffi United States = Low Power Distance country, Hofstede’s index .40 Libya = High Power Distance Country, Hofstede’s index .80
RESULTS *Sig t = < .01
RESULTS The compound scale: Obama = PSD = 2,5 Khadaffi = PSD = 3,7* *(t = 24,7 / p <.001; r = .86)
results H1: The use of rhetorical means can be explained from a model based on increasing or decreasing Social Distance. -> Confirmed! All differences on the scale were significant and pointed in the same direction. H2: Social Distance is closely connected to Power Distance. -> Confirmed! High power distance is connected with high social distance. H3: Photographs show a difference in Social Distance in photographs from leaders from a High Power Distance Country and a Low Power Distance Country. -> Confirmed! Pictures from US President Obama scored significantly lower in social distance than pictures from the Libyan leader Khadaffi.
Discussion - How good a sample is Google Images? Can the research be replicated with other photo data banks? (Getty, Press Photo agencies, etc.) - Can we replicate this research with photographs from photographers from specific low and high power distance countries? (search أوباما, Обаму, or オバマ) - Can we replicate this research with other leaders. (Obama and Khadaffi were extremes.) - Can the scale be used as a predictive tool? Can we produce photographs with a predicted social distance?