From Pixels to Politics: A media-centric analysis of the 2020 far- right surge in the U.S. – PO-3319- Victoria Russell Please note that some formatting has been changed to accommodate publication.
Executive Summary
2020 has been commemorated across the world to be a year for the history books,
marked by a back-to-back sequence of unprecedented events that not only exposed the
fault lines of our society, but put the country’s ability to overcome adversity to the test.
The COVID-19 Pandemic that put the world on hold from reality sent everyone into a
lockdown where the digital world became the new normality. School, work, shopping,
and socialising were all done through the means of the internet, whilst all human contact
was restricted in an attempt to lessen the death toll of this new pneumonia-like virus. As
the United States grappled with the challenges posed by the global pandemic, the nation
faced an uproar against police brutality and racial injustices, with protests sparking
across the country – all against the backdrop of a fiercely disputed U.S. Presidential
Election.
The purpose of this report is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the three most
significant events of 2020:
1) The COVID-19 Pandemic
2) The Black Lives Matter Protests
3) The Presidential Election
And how these events are considered to be significant catalysts that fuelled the recent
surge of far-right ideologies across the political landscape within the United States.
“All we’re missing is the asteroid landing with flesh-eating zombies, and our year
will be complete.” - Paul Lux, Supervisor of Elections in Okaloosa County, Fla.
(Bosman et al., 2020
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