Curd Knüpfer
@curdknupfer.bsky.social
Associate professor of political communication @ddc-sdu.bsky.social, University of Southern Denmark.
Focus on digital & right-wing media + parties.
Associate Editor @ International Journal of Press/Politics
Focus on digital & right-wing media + parties.
Associate Editor @ International Journal of Press/Politics
Pinned
Curd Knüpfer
@curdknupfer.bsky.social
· May 21
✨NEW BOOK CHAPTER OUT✨
The Phantom Counter-Public:
Liberal Responsiveness to Far-right Information Networks as the Next Crisis of Public Communication.
doi.org/10.1007/978-...
In: Coleman et al.: Public Communication in Freefall: Revisiting the Work of Jay Blumler.
🧵⤵️
The Phantom Counter-Public:
Liberal Responsiveness to Far-right Information Networks as the Next Crisis of Public Communication.
doi.org/10.1007/978-...
In: Coleman et al.: Public Communication in Freefall: Revisiting the Work of Jay Blumler.
🧵⤵️
Nice work by these always excellent colleagues:
Embedding platform affordances within the contexts (and confines) of the media/political regimes in which they are used by various social movements.
Smart stuff!
Embedding platform affordances within the contexts (and confines) of the media/political regimes in which they are used by various social movements.
Smart stuff!
📜Fresh off the press: Annett Heft, @michaelvaughan.bsky.social, Barbara Pfetsch & I attempted to find a level for defining social media affordances that permits conceptualizing differences between platforms and uses, and is thus useful for theory building.
doi.org/10.1093/ct/q...
doi.org/10.1093/ct/q...
Differential social media affordances: an actor type-centric, intermediate-level approach using the case of social movements
Abstract. Social media have profoundly changed social communication practices across a vast range of contexts. To theorize these changes, numerous authors
doi.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Nice work by these always excellent colleagues:
Embedding platform affordances within the contexts (and confines) of the media/political regimes in which they are used by various social movements.
Smart stuff!
Embedding platform affordances within the contexts (and confines) of the media/political regimes in which they are used by various social movements.
Smart stuff!
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Research by our own @waqasejaz.bsky.social and others proves that climate journalism truly matters.
Drawing on online survey data from 🇧🇷🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇳🇯🇵🇵🇰🇬🇧🇺🇸 they show that mainstream news use is consistently associated with pro-climate behavioural intentions (using less energy, flying less often)
Drawing on online survey data from 🇧🇷🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇳🇯🇵🇵🇰🇬🇧🇺🇸 they show that mainstream news use is consistently associated with pro-climate behavioural intentions (using less energy, flying less often)
How News Media, Climate Anxiety, and Trust Shape Pro-Climate Behaviour Across Eight Countries - Waqas Ejaz, Mary Sanford, Richard Fletcher, 2025
Despite the importance of climate news in shaping public engagement, little is known about how different types of media – mainstream and non-mainstream – relate...
journals.sagepub.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Research by our own @waqasejaz.bsky.social and others proves that climate journalism truly matters.
Drawing on online survey data from 🇧🇷🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇳🇯🇵🇵🇰🇬🇧🇺🇸 they show that mainstream news use is consistently associated with pro-climate behavioural intentions (using less energy, flying less often)
Drawing on online survey data from 🇧🇷🇫🇷🇩🇪🇮🇳🇯🇵🇵🇰🇬🇧🇺🇸 they show that mainstream news use is consistently associated with pro-climate behavioural intentions (using less energy, flying less often)
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
It’s not just British I woudl wager that’s the algorithm
It’ll have the same impact on Irish people including the public, politicians and journalists who will all imagine they’re living live in a far scarier more radicalised right wing environment that is the case in reality .
It’ll have the same impact on Irish people including the public, politicians and journalists who will all imagine they’re living live in a far scarier more radicalised right wing environment that is the case in reality .
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 AM
It’s not just British I woudl wager that’s the algorithm
It’ll have the same impact on Irish people including the public, politicians and journalists who will all imagine they’re living live in a far scarier more radicalised right wing environment that is the case in reality .
It’ll have the same impact on Irish people including the public, politicians and journalists who will all imagine they’re living live in a far scarier more radicalised right wing environment that is the case in reality .
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
How Elon Musk boosts the British right.
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:36 AM
How Elon Musk boosts the British right.
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Chapter 1+2 work pretty good and are interesting for students in interdisciplinary study programs (as far as I can tell) - www.wiley.com/en-gb/Platfo...
@ulrikeklinger.bsky.social @dkreiss.bsky.social & Bruce Mutsvairo
@ulrikeklinger.bsky.social @dkreiss.bsky.social & Bruce Mutsvairo
Platforms, Power, and Politics: An Introduction to Political Communication in the Digital Age
<p>Political communication has fundamentally transformed as digital technologies have become increasingly important in everyday life. Technology platforms have become powerful political instruments fo...
www.wiley.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Chapter 1+2 work pretty good and are interesting for students in interdisciplinary study programs (as far as I can tell) - www.wiley.com/en-gb/Platfo...
@ulrikeklinger.bsky.social @dkreiss.bsky.social & Bruce Mutsvairo
@ulrikeklinger.bsky.social @dkreiss.bsky.social & Bruce Mutsvairo
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Social science is so cool
We have a paper tracing US Members of Congress' engagement with far-right and questionable sources on Twitter. This correlates with how extreme they are.
doi.org/10.1177/1354...
doi.org/10.1177/1354...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
November 4, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Social science is so cool
This must be what it's like to be American when the World Cup is on.
November 2, 2025 at 8:19 AM
This must be what it's like to be American when the World Cup is on.
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
October 30, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Posting is correlated with affective polarization:
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics
🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
🚨 Evergreen Post 🚨
Like almost every other West European election in this century, the Dutch election is not about “populism” but about nativism, i.e. xenophobic nationalism.
Like almost every other West European election in this century, the Dutch election is not about “populism” but about nativism, i.e. xenophobic nationalism.
October 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
🚨 Evergreen Post 🚨
Like almost every other West European election in this century, the Dutch election is not about “populism” but about nativism, i.e. xenophobic nationalism.
Like almost every other West European election in this century, the Dutch election is not about “populism” but about nativism, i.e. xenophobic nationalism.
Made this meme, in celebration of passing my Danish language module 3.1. exam today. 🇩🇰🎶🫡
October 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Made this meme, in celebration of passing my Danish language module 3.1. exam today. 🇩🇰🎶🫡
I contributed some quotes citing our research to this @euobserver.com piece on the German center-right's relation to the far right.
🔗 euobserver.com/migration/ar...
TDLR: We are witnessing a shift in the party of Merkel's "Yes we can" towards ethno-nationalist frames widely used by the far right.
🔗 euobserver.com/migration/ar...
TDLR: We are witnessing a shift in the party of Merkel's "Yes we can" towards ethno-nationalist frames widely used by the far right.
Germany's Merz under pressure from CDU to abandon 'firewall' against AfD
As Germany prepares for five state elections next year, chancellor Friedrich Merz's center-right CDU faces a dilemma over how to handle the surging influence and popularity of the far-right Alternativ...
euobserver.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:42 AM
I contributed some quotes citing our research to this @euobserver.com piece on the German center-right's relation to the far right.
🔗 euobserver.com/migration/ar...
TDLR: We are witnessing a shift in the party of Merkel's "Yes we can" towards ethno-nationalist frames widely used by the far right.
🔗 euobserver.com/migration/ar...
TDLR: We are witnessing a shift in the party of Merkel's "Yes we can" towards ethno-nationalist frames widely used by the far right.
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Why does the country think CBS News is biased?
Because the modern conservative movement has been pushing that narrative for the better part of 80 years!
Because the modern conservative movement has been pushing that narrative for the better part of 80 years!
new: Bari Weiss, the new editor in chief of CBS News, surprised senior staff at “60 Minutes” last week when she asked a provocative question —
Why does the country think you’re biased?
Inside Bari’s first two weeks, with Michael Grynbaum:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/b...
Why does the country think you’re biased?
Inside Bari’s first two weeks, with Michael Grynbaum:
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/b...
Booking Big Guests and Irked by Leaks: Bari Weiss’s First Days at CBS
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Why does the country think CBS News is biased?
Because the modern conservative movement has been pushing that narrative for the better part of 80 years!
Because the modern conservative movement has been pushing that narrative for the better part of 80 years!
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
New publication alert🔓🚨
Toxic speech is widespread on social media – but do users mirror the toxic behavior of their ingroup or react defensively to outgroup toxicity?
Our new paper in JCMC examines how ingroup and outgroup behavior shape the spread of toxicity on social media.
Toxic speech is widespread on social media – but do users mirror the toxic behavior of their ingroup or react defensively to outgroup toxicity?
Our new paper in JCMC examines how ingroup and outgroup behavior shape the spread of toxicity on social media.
October 20, 2025 at 11:49 AM
New publication alert🔓🚨
Toxic speech is widespread on social media – but do users mirror the toxic behavior of their ingroup or react defensively to outgroup toxicity?
Our new paper in JCMC examines how ingroup and outgroup behavior shape the spread of toxicity on social media.
Toxic speech is widespread on social media – but do users mirror the toxic behavior of their ingroup or react defensively to outgroup toxicity?
Our new paper in JCMC examines how ingroup and outgroup behavior shape the spread of toxicity on social media.
If you've been reading that fantastic new paper by @dasalgon.bsky.social & @tevoelker.bsky.social on how mainstream parties lose if they adopt far-right issues:
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
✨NEW PAPER OUT✨
“Far-right challenges to liberal democratic press norms: ‘indexing by proxy’ in a German immigration debate”
together with Lance Bennett & @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social in
@journal-of-comm.bsky.social.
Why do far-right issues keep making the news? 🧵⤵️
academic.oup.com/joc/advance-...
“Far-right challenges to liberal democratic press norms: ‘indexing by proxy’ in a German immigration debate”
together with Lance Bennett & @ulrikeklinger.bsky.social in
@journal-of-comm.bsky.social.
Why do far-right issues keep making the news? 🧵⤵️
academic.oup.com/joc/advance-...
Far-right challenges to liberal democratic press norms: “indexing by proxy” in a German immigration debate
Abstract. This study examines the mechanisms by which illiberal politics make the news by disrupting democratic systems. During the late 20th century, a li
academic.oup.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 AM
If you've been reading that fantastic new paper by @dasalgon.bsky.social & @tevoelker.bsky.social on how mainstream parties lose if they adopt far-right issues:
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
We looked at a case study & found similar dynamics for media.
This was partly based on data from Daniel & Teresa!❤️
bsky.app/profile/curd...
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
In our new article, @tevoelker.bsky.social and I show how far-right actors have increased their influence on mainstream parties' agenda-setting.
For the @euobserver.com, Hannah Kriwah has written about our study, and I had the pleasure to comment on it.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
For the @euobserver.com, Hannah Kriwah has written about our study, and I had the pleasure to comment on it.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
October 17, 2025 at 4:01 PM
In our new article, @tevoelker.bsky.social and I show how far-right actors have increased their influence on mainstream parties' agenda-setting.
For the @euobserver.com, Hannah Kriwah has written about our study, and I had the pleasure to comment on it.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
For the @euobserver.com, Hannah Kriwah has written about our study, and I had the pleasure to comment on it.
euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Work!! 🚨
We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social
Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥
Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci
🗓️ DL November 1
Spread the word 📣
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social
Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥
Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci
🗓️ DL November 1
Spread the word 📣
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher Communication Science at AI, Media & Democracy Lab
Do you want to be part of the AI, Media & Democracy Lab? We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher with a profile in communication science.
werkenbij.uva.nl
October 19, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Work!! 🚨
We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social
Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥
Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci
🗓️ DL November 1
Spread the word 📣
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
We are looking for a #postdoc in our AI, media and Democracy Lab @aimediademlab.bsky.social
Dynamic position, great team, nice colleagues 💥
Profile: communication/ poli sci/ computational social sci
🗓️ DL November 1
Spread the word 📣
werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Showed the poop plane video to our five-year-old. He didn’t seem to think it was funny.
White House comms not landing as well as one might think with the preschool males demographic.
White House comms not landing as well as one might think with the preschool males demographic.
October 19, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Showed the poop plane video to our five-year-old. He didn’t seem to think it was funny.
White House comms not landing as well as one might think with the preschool males demographic.
White House comms not landing as well as one might think with the preschool males demographic.
One unexpected thing I learned from today's #NoKings protests is that an inflatable mascot costume is only going to set you back bz about 25-50 $\€
October 18, 2025 at 7:43 PM
One unexpected thing I learned from today's #NoKings protests is that an inflatable mascot costume is only going to set you back bz about 25-50 $\€
What's the opposite of doomscrolling?
Need a word for what I'm doing right now.
Need a word for what I'm doing right now.
October 18, 2025 at 7:32 PM
What's the opposite of doomscrolling?
Need a word for what I'm doing right now.
Need a word for what I'm doing right now.
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
DARTMOUTH OUT!
We are at 6 rejections. Vanderbilt is the only private left standing "considering" the compact along with UT Austin and the University of Arizona.
We are at 6 rejections. Vanderbilt is the only private left standing "considering" the compact along with UT Austin and the University of Arizona.
Dartmouth is OUT! Thank goodness... a friend at U of A and I have been playing "Who will be the last of the 9 standing?" and it's not gonna be us!
October 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
DARTMOUTH OUT!
We are at 6 rejections. Vanderbilt is the only private left standing "considering" the compact along with UT Austin and the University of Arizona.
We are at 6 rejections. Vanderbilt is the only private left standing "considering" the compact along with UT Austin and the University of Arizona.
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
Very cool to see friends’ work being reported in the national media, congrats @tevoelker.bsky.social!
October 18, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Very cool to see friends’ work being reported in the national media, congrats @tevoelker.bsky.social!
Reposted by Curd Knüpfer
12 days to go and clearly a good time to share this again.
While it looks like the PVV is going to do worse than in the last election (although let's not forget a lot of movement in the last week in 2023), taken together far-right parties might do as well or better than in 2023.
While it looks like the PVV is going to do worse than in the last election (although let's not forget a lot of movement in the last week in 2023), taken together far-right parties might do as well or better than in 2023.
Given that international pundits are starting to pay attention to the Dutch election: there is more than one far-right party in the Netherlands. If you want to assess how the Dutch far right is doing, you can't just look at the PVV but you have to include FvD and JA21.
October 17, 2025 at 9:26 AM
12 days to go and clearly a good time to share this again.
While it looks like the PVV is going to do worse than in the last election (although let's not forget a lot of movement in the last week in 2023), taken together far-right parties might do as well or better than in 2023.
While it looks like the PVV is going to do worse than in the last election (although let's not forget a lot of movement in the last week in 2023), taken together far-right parties might do as well or better than in 2023.
Of all the ways in which media coverage of Trump II is failing, it's this kind of stuff that makes me despair the most.
It's right there! In the foundational text!! You don't even have to cite anyone else. ARRGHH!!!
It's right there! In the foundational text!! You don't even have to cite anyone else. ARRGHH!!!
“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
-Article 1, Section 8, US Constitution
Not a "norm" violation. A legal and constitutional violation.
-Article 1, Section 8, US Constitution
Not a "norm" violation. A legal and constitutional violation.
President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.
October 17, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Of all the ways in which media coverage of Trump II is failing, it's this kind of stuff that makes me despair the most.
It's right there! In the foundational text!! You don't even have to cite anyone else. ARRGHH!!!
It's right there! In the foundational text!! You don't even have to cite anyone else. ARRGHH!!!