Table Of ContentRHETORIC, POLITICS AND SOCIETY
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A Gossip Politic
Edited by
Andrea McDonnell
Adam Silver
Rhetoric, Politics and Society
Series Editors
Alan Finlayson, University of East Anglia, Norfolk, UK
James Martin, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
Kendall R. Phillips, Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA
Rhetoric lies at the intersection of a variety of disciplinary approaches
and methods, drawing upon the study of language, history, culture and
philosophy to understand the persuasive aspects of communication in all
its modes: spoken, written, argued, depicted and performed. This series
presents the best international research in rhetoric that develops and
exemplifies the multifaceted and cross-disciplinary exploration of prac-
tices of persuasion and communication. It seeks to publish texts that
openly explore and expand rhetorical knowledge and enquiry, be it in
the form of historical scholarship, theoretical analysis or contemporary
cultural and political critique. The editors welcome proposals for mono-
graphsthatexplorecontemporaryrhetoricalforms,rhetoricaltheoriesand
thinkers, and rhetorical themes inside and across disciplinary boundaries.
For informal enquiries, questions, as well as submitting proposals, please
contact the editors: Alan Finlayson: a.fi[email protected] James Martin:
[email protected] Kendall Phillips: [email protected]
·
Andrea McDonnell Adam Silver
Editors
A Gossip Politic
Editors
Andrea McDonnell Adam Silver
Communication Political Science and International
Providence College Relations
Providence, RI, USA Emmanuel College
Boston, MA, USA
ISSN 2947-5147 ISSN 2947-5155 (electronic)
Rhetoric, Politics and Society
ISBN 978-3-031-15118-7 ISBN 978-3-031-15119-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15119-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor
general use.
Thepublisher,theauthors,andtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps
and institutional affiliations.
Cover credits: CSA Images/Vetta/Getty Images
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Acknowledgments
Weareespeciallythankfulfortheeffortsofthecontributors,whoseschol-
arshiphasbroughtthistopictolifewithrigorandspirit,andwhosegood
humor throughout the editorial process has made work on this project a
pleasure and a privilege.
We are grateful for the support from members of the editorial team
at Palgrave, especially Shreenidhi Natarajan, who helped see the book
through to completion.
We also wish to thank Zachary Lebreiro and Madison Suitor for their
diligence and assistance throughout the research process.
Special thanks to the Ross Priory Broadcast Talk Seminar Group,
whose innovative interdisciplinary spirit has fostered a number of the
projects contained in this volume, and to the Political Science depart-
ments at Providence College and Emmanuel College for their ongoing
support of our scholarly endeavors.
v
Contents
1 Introduction 1
Andrea McDonnell and Adam Silver
Part I Gossip and the Press
2 The Omigod no! Notes on News Talk 11
Paddy Scannell
3 Talk as News on Television 27
Michael Higgins
4 The Celebrity Interview: Gossip, Empathy and News
in Oprah Winfrey’s CBS Interview with Meghan
Markle 43
Jin Shen and Martin Montgomery
Part II Gossip and the President
5 Hedda Hopper Meets JFK: Hollywood Gossip,
Right-Wing Politics, and the Kennedys 67
Jennifer Frost
6 “Enquiring Minds Want to Know”: President Bill
Clinton and the Blurring of News and Gossip 83
Jennifer Hopper
vii
viii CONTENTS
7 A Trickle-Down Effect of Foreign Policy on Domestic
Narratives: Populism and Trump’s Espousal
of Conspiracy and Gossip to “Make America Great
Again” 99
Prashant Rastogi
Part III Gossip and the Public
8 Media Framing of the Christine Blasey Ford
Testimony: The Influence of Gossip on Sexual
Violence Discourses 117
Madison A. Pollino
9 The Marriages of Celebrity Politicians: A Social
Semiotic Approach to How Commenters Affiliate
Around YouTube Gossip Videos 133
Olivia Inwood and Michele Zappavigna
10 GossipontheHill:Bonding,Bitching,andPoliticians’
Home Style on Twitter 155
Andrea McDonnell and Adam Silver
Index 177
Notes on Contributors
Frost Jennifer teaches US history at the University of Auckland, New
Zealand, and is the author of Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood: Celebrity Gossip
and American Conservatism.
HigginsMichaelisSeniorLecturerandProgrammeLeaderinMediaand
CommunicationattheUniversityofStrathclydeinScotland.Hisresearch
focuses on the manner in which media and culture influences the polit-
ical realm. Recently, this has concentrated on the rise of aggressiveness
and conflict in media, including his book Belligerent Broadcasting (with
Angela Smith, 2017). Michael’s other books include Media and Their
Publics (2008), The Cambridge Companion to Modern British Culture
(2010) and The Language of Journalism (with Angela Smith, 2nd ed,
2020).
HopperJenniferisanAssociateProfessorofPoliticalScienceatSouthern
Connecticut State University where she regularly teaches courses in
American Government, the US Presidency, Congress and the Legislative
Process, and Media & Politics. She is the author of Presidential Framing
in the 21st Century News Media: The Politics of the Affordable Care Act
(Routledge, 2017). Her scholarship has also appeared in White House
Studies, Social Science History, and the International Journal of Commu-
nication. Her research interests focus on political communication, the
presidency, and the US news media, particularly as they relate to health
care politics and policy.
ix
x NOTESONCONTRIBUTORS
InwoodOlivia isaPh.D.CandidateintheSchooloftheArtsandMedia
attheUniversityofNewSouthWales.Hercurrentresearchusesmethods
inSystemicFunctionalLinguisticstoexploreissuesofmis/disinformation
and deceptive communication on YouTube. In 2018, she graduated with
FirstClassHonoursinMedia,Culture,andTechnology,writingherthesis
onblockchaintechnologystart-upsfromasocialsemioticperspective.She
has research articles written with Associate Professor Michele Zappavigna
recently published in Discourse & Communication and Social Semiotics.
McDonnell Andrea is Associate Professor of Communication and
Director of the Communication Minor at Providence College, USA,
where her research examines the relationship between celebrity culture
andmediaaudiences.SheistheauthorofReadingCelebrityGossipMaga-
zines (2014), and co-author, with Susan Douglas, of Celebrity: A history
offame (2019).HerresearchhasappearedinPsychologyofPopularMedia
Culture and Critical Studies in Media Communication and has been
featured in the New York Times, E! News, NPR, Buzzfeed, and the BBC.
Montgomery Martin is Emeritus Professor of Literary Linguistics at
the University of Macau, China, and Visiting Professor of Media and
Communication at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. He has
writtenwidelyonlanguageandthemedia—especiallyonaspectsofbroad-
cast talk. His latest book is Language, Media, and Culture: The Key
Concepts, published by Routledge.
Pollino Madison A. is a Doctoral Student in Media and Communica-
tion at Bowling Green State University. Her research uses critical, queer,
and feminist frameworks to examine the role of culture in contempo-
rary discourses regarding gendered violence. She is interested in how
hegemonic representations of gender, race, and class influence societal
perceptions of gendered violence as well as one’s decision to disclose
their experiences in interpersonal relationships. She has published work
inCriticalStudiesinMediaCommunication,CommunicationEducation,
Feminist Media Studies, and Qualitative Inquiry.
Rastogi Prashant is a Doctoral Candidate at O.P. Jindal Global Univer-
sity, India, and a Geopolitical Risk Analyst for WoRisGo. His research
lies at the intersection of International Relations and Peace and Conflict
Studies with research areas including Conflict Resolution, Populism,
RebelCommunication,Terrorism,PublicDiplomacy,andForeignPolicy.
