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The Rhetoric of Power in Images of World Leaders Study

Research exploring how power is established in media portraits of political leaders using Hofstede's theory on cultural values. Analyzing social and power distance, semiotics, and rhetoric in media representations. Results show correlation between power and social distance and how this is reflected in Google Images of Obama and Khadaffi.

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The Rhetoric of Power in Images of World Leaders Study

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  1. THE RHETORIC OF POWERIN IMAGESOF WORLD LEADERS Dr. A.W.M. (Willem) Koetsenruijter Leiden University, the Netherlands Dept. Journalism & New Media koets@wxs.nl

  2. … carefully composed and chosen to communicate specific ideas about leadership and power Image management

  3. Hofstede’s theory on cultural values Four dimensions • individualism – collectivism • uncertainty avoidance • power distance • masculinity – femininity

  4. 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.

  5. 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)

  6. SIX Variables NoC: Nature of Candidate PoV: Point of View FEx: Facial Expression ImA: Image Act INt: Interaction PDi: PhysicalDistance

  7. 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

  8. NATURE OF CANDIDate Family type: socialdistance = low

  9. NATURE OF CANDIDate Outdoor type

  10. NATURE OF CANDIDate Father / mother type

  11. NATURE OF CANDIDate Glad to C you

  12. NATURE OF CANDIDate Relaxed leader

  13. NATURE OF CANDIDate Dynamical Speaker: socialdistance = higher

  14. NATURE OF CANDIDate Media Star

  15. NATURE OF CANDIDate Stressed leader

  16. NATURE OF CANDIDate Promised leader: socialdistance = high

  17. POINT OF VIEW PSD small PSD big • Camera equals point of view • Camera higher than point of view • Camera lower than point of view

  18. POINT OF VIEW: Equal, social distance = low

  19. POINT OF VIEW: High: social distance high

  20. POINT OF VIEW: Low: social distance high

  21. PHYSICAL DISTANCE PSD small PSD big • Intimate • Close personal • Far personal • Close social • Far social • Public

  22. DISTANCE: intimate, social distance = low

  23. DISTANCE: close personal, social distance = low

  24. DISTANCE: far personal

  25. DISTANCE: close social

  26. DISTANCE: far social

  27. DISTANCE: public, social distance = high

  28. 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

  29. 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

  30. 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

  31. 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.

  32. Google Images as a Collection stereotypes

  33. Google Images as a Collection stereotypes

  34. 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

  35. RESULTS *Sig t = < .01

  36. RESULTS The compound scale: Obama = PSD = 2,5 Khadaffi = PSD = 3,7* *(t = 24,7 / p <.001; r = .86)

  37. 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.

  38. 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?

  39. QUESTIONS?

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