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Seducing the young: MTV, rap and other grotesque attempts to make politics sexy

Seducing the young: MTV, rap and other grotesque attempts to make politics sexy. Chris Aalberts. Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl. Introduction. Young people are not interested in politics Solution: sexy politics

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Seducing the young: MTV, rap and other grotesque attempts to make politics sexy

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  1. Seducing the young: MTV, rap and other grotesque attempts to make politics sexy Chris Aalberts Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  2. Introduction Young people are not interested in politics Solution: sexy politics • Politicians appear in popular television shows • Pop stars talk about political issues • Politicians talk about their favorite music Question: does sexy politics make politics more Interesting for the young? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  3. Politics on MTV (1) • Political programs on MTV • U.S.: Choose or Loose • Britain: Tony Blair on the war in Iraq • The Netherlands: Coolpolitics Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  4. Politics on MTV (2) Effects of MTV: • Young people watch politics in traditional genres • Young people get their information from traditional genres • 50% of the American youth think MTV’s political programmes are useful Many politicians want to be interviewed on MTV. Why? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  5. List Zero (1) • Youth program on politics • MTV-style with pop music and popular presenters • Relevant issues for young people • Third series Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  6. List Zero (2) Audience reach: • 16 october 268.000 viewers • 23 october 270.000 viewers • 30 october 270.000 viewers • 6 november 238.000 viewers • And... a majority of older viewers Politicians are still enthousiastic about List Zero. Why? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  7. Political rap (1) • Rap songs on politics • For example: Stem of sterf! (Vote or die) Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  8. Political rap (2) Effects: • Young people prefer traditional genres • Young people talk about issues from these raps... • When they were already interested in them • Only a small group likes these songs Still the media present these raps as a means to make politics attractive for the young. Why? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  9. Politicians on Hyves (1) • A popular online network of friends • Become friends with the prime minister! Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  10. Politicians on Hyves (2) Audience reach: • Balkenende 48.785 friends • Bos 24.652 friends • Rutte 5.494 friends • Halsema 3.640 friends Many journalists seem to think that this is an interesting development. Why? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  11. Sexy politics? (1) Paradox: • No proof of any effects but... • Still many people believe that sexy politics is a solution to political disinterest How can we explain this paradox? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  12. Sexy politics? (2) Young people’s perceptions on politics: • Young people think that politics is important... • And that it is boring • Political disinterest is a bad thing • For them, politics is not entertainment... • It should be serious... • And politicians should talk about their policies Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  13. Conclusion • Politics is too important to be sexy • Young people say they are not influenced • That seems to be true: there is no proof of any effects • Still many people believe that effects occur • They believe that others are influenced • Popular culture is seen as useful for disinterested people Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

  14. More research… Audience research is needed: • Who are the fans of political rap? Do they exist? How do they interpret those songs? • Who are the friends of Jan Peter Balkenende? Why do they want to be friends with him? • Who are the visitors on political debates on LowLands? Why are they there? Amsterdam - 15 november 2006 - Chris Aalberts - www.chrisaalberts.nl

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