Eirik Vatnøy

• Vatnøy, Eirik & Wheatley, Dawn (2022). Mediated recognition in campaigns for justice: The case of the Magdalene laundry survivors. Communications. ISSN 0341-2059. 47(4). doi: 10.1515/commun-2022-0039. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract The recognition perspective is a valuable lens through which identity struggles and historical marginalization and abuses can be explored. This study analyzes Ireland’s Justice for Magdalene (JFM) campaign between 2009–2013; JFM was a group that fought for a state apology and redress for women and girls confined to Catholic-run laundries between the 1920s and 1990s. Such institutions formed part of the post-colonial Irish identity and church-state structure, within which many women and girls once suffered. We document the rhetorical dimension of how a resolution was ultimately reached following the campaign’s transformation of women’s individual experiences into the collective voice of an advocacy group with targeted political goals. Focusing on JFM’s public press releases, we consider the media logic and rhetorical strategies of the group, which effectively built a case against the state. At the core of the discussion is the balance between the instrumental and constitutive functions of the organization’s messaging.

• Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund; Vatnøy, Eirik & Andersen, Ida Vikøren (2020). Skriftlig protokolanalyse. In Bengtsson, Mette; Berg, Kristine Marie & Iversen, Stefan (Ed.), Retorik og metode. Samfundslitteratur. ISSN 9788759335208. p. 115–139. Full text in Research Archive
• Wheatley, Dawn & Vatnøy, Eirik (2020). Understanding attitudes towards social media segregation: spatial metaphors in the discussion of Twitter blocklists. Information, Communication & Society. ISSN 1369-118X. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2020.1749696. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Blocking other users is a common act on Twitter but one which is underexplored from a scholarly perspective, particularly the analysis of mass blocklists. Although traditionally associated with harassment, blocklists are increasingly engaged to create individualised environments that align with users’ personal convictions and exclude apparent transgressors. This study uses a pro-choice blocklist (Repeal Shield) created during the 2018 Irish abortion referendum campaign to explore how users interpret these altered boundaries and blocklists’ influence on the Twitter landscape. A metaphor analysis of more than 2,000 tweets discussing the blocklist highlights the dominant concepts in how users visualise Twitter as both a personal space and a battlefield, in which mental health is a key factor. By drawing on discussions of spatiality, agency, gender and online interactions, we can see how these blocking affordances allow users to exist in spaces in which they construct their own parameters to feel safer, raising questions about how harm, health and risk are understood. The article explores how users make sense of conflicting images like ‘safe spaces’ or ‘echo chambers’, highlighting the apparent policing role held by blocklists. Users are negotiating the type of civic space in which they want to exist as norms of engagement versus avoidance collide; although digital spaces have always accommodated fragmented interests, the technological affordances of blocklists provide more rigid boundaries, highlighting how the evolving architecture of social media allows users to redefine the parameters of their own online spaces.

• Vatnøy, Eirik & Wheatley, Dawn (2020). Eksplorativ retorisk analyse af sociale medier. In Bengtsson, Mette; Berg, Kristine Marie & Iversen, Stefan (Ed.), Retorik og metode. Samfundslitteratur. ISSN 9788759335208. p. 213–236. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik; Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund & Andersen, Ida Vikøren (2020). Velgernes reaksjoner på retorikk i TV-debatter. Rhetorica Scandinavica. ISSN 1397-0534. p. 1–19. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik & Bjøntegård, Marit Kristine (2019). «De bare krangler». Nordmenns holdninger til TV-sendte valgdebatter. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning (TfS). ISSN 0040-716X. 60(3), p. 250–273. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2019-03-03. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  TV-sendte valgdebatter blir stadig kritisert av journalister, politikere og akademikere. I denne artikkelen undersøker vi velgernes holdninger til TV-debatter og spør hvorvidt de er enige i kritikken. Artikkelen baserer seg på data fra en representativ nettbasert spørreundersøkelse gjennomført av Norsk medborgerpanel våren 2017 (N=2039). Hoveddelen av analysen baserer seg på 1700 svar på et åpent spørsmål om hvilke assosiasjoner respondentene har til TV-sendte valgdebatter. Gjennom en topoi-analyse av de åpne svarene, finner vi at respondentene er svært negative til TV-debattene. De er særlig frustrerte over dynamikken mellom aktørene i debatten. Denne beskrives i stor grad som «krangling» og «kjekling» og oppleves å bryte med etablerte normer for samtale- og argumentasjonsskikk. Respondentene er også kritiske til tonen i debatten, som de beskriver som negativ og for mye kritikkorientert. I artikkelen drøfter vi funnene i lys av kritikken rettet mot de norske debattformatene og den bredere kritikken rettet mot tidens «in-your-face politics» (Mutz, 2015).

• Wheatley, Dawn & Vatnøy, Eirik (2019). ‘It’s Twitter, a bear pit, not a debating society’: A qualitative analysis of contrasting attitudes towards social media blocklists. New Media & Society. ISSN 1461-4448. 22(1), p. 5–25. doi: 10.1177/1461444819858278. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study of tweets ( n = 2247) explores discussions about a pro-choice blocklist (@Repeal_Shield) used during the 2018 Irish abortion referendum campaign, capturing conflicting interpretations of engagement and political participation. Although qualitative Twitter studies bring methodological challenges, deep readings were needed to analyse arguments in favour and against the blocklist, and to consider what we can learn about users’ expectations of Twitter. Through deductive and inductive coding, opposing perspectives emerge on whether such lists are useful, democratic or regressive, but both sides share normative aspirations for Twitter to serve as a space for healthy debate, even if there is clear tension in how that is best achieved. Blocklists are traditionally cited as a harassment solution, facilitating participation from otherwise-excluded counterpublics. However, @Repeal_Shield demonstrates how this affordance has evolved towards omitting broad spectrums of undesired content, while using blocklists – and being listed – can be a bold political statement in itself.

• Knudsen, Erik; Iversen, Magnus Hoem & Vatnøy, Eirik (2018). Mistillit til den andre siden : ideologisk selektiv eksponering og tillit til røde og blå medier. Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT). ISSN 0804-8452. 25(2). doi: 10.18261/issn.0805-9535-2018-02-04. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik (2017). Focus group studies of social media rhetoric. In Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund (Eds.), Rhetorical Audience Studies and Reception of Rhetoric. Exploring Audiences Empirically. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 9783319616179. p. 135–161. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-61618-6_5. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This book examines the reception of rhetoric and the rhetoric of reception. By considering salient rhetorical traits of rhetorical utterances and texts seen in context, and relating this to different kinds of reception and/or audience use and negotiation, the authors explore the connections between rhetoric and reception. In our time, new media and new forms of communication make it harder to distinguish between speaker and audience. The active involvement of users and audiences is more important than ever before. This project is based on the premise that rhetorical research should reconsider the understanding, conceptualization and examination of the rhetorical audience. From mostly understanding audiences as theoretical constructions that are examined textually and speculatively, the contributors give more attention to empirical explorations of actual audiences and users. The book will provide readers with new knowledge on the workings of rhetoric as well as illustrative and guiding examples of new methods of rhetorical studies.

• Vatnøy, Eirik (2016). Rejuvenating the Public Sphere: The Rhetorical Arenas of Social Media. In Carpentier, Nico; Kramp, Leif; Hepp, Andreas; Kilborn, Richard; Kunelius, Risto; Nieminen, Hannu; Olsson, Tobias; Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, Pille; Trivundža, Ilija Tomanić & Tosoni, Simone (Ed.), Politics, Civil Society and Participation: Media and Communications in a Transforming Environment. edition lumière. ISSN 9783943245547. p. 121–132. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik; Iversen, Magnus Hoem & Svennevig, Jan (2016). Utspørrerne. Journalistisk strategi og forskjellsbehandling i stortingsvalget 2013. Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT). ISSN 0804-8452. 23(3), p. 1–25. doi: 10.18261/issn.0805-9535-2016-03-02. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Partilederutspørringer under valgkamp er en viktig kilde til informasjon om partier og programmer for norske borgere. Hva slags type informasjon som kommer frem, er i stor grad avhengig av interaksjonen mellom journalist og politiker. I denne artikkelen undersøker vi hva slags journalistiske strategier som møtte partilederne på NRK og TV2 i 2013. Materialet består av 17 partilederutspørringer, som er analysert med modeller fra en samtaleanalytisk tradisjon for å beskrive grad av responsstyring og kritisk innstilling. Vi sammenligner våre funn med funn fra lignende studier gjort i 2009 og 2005. Vi finner at partilederne i utspørringene får mange flere åpne spørsmål enn tidligere valgkamper, noe som legger til rette for at politikerne kan formidle sin politikk uten sterk responsstyring. Videre finner vi at partiblokkene forskjellsbehandles av journalistene, men basert på at journalistenes strategi for utspørringene styres av hvorvidt partilederne er i posisjon eller opposisjon, heller enn at de tilhører venstre- eller høyresiden.

• Vatnøy, Eirik (2015). Leaders' Response to Terrorism: The Role of Epideictic Rhetoric in Deliberative Democracies. Journal of Public Deliberation. 11(2). doi: 10.16997/jdd.235. Full text in Research Archive

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• Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund & Vatnøy, Eirik (2025). Ta ordet! Veien til god muntlig formidling. Fagbokforlaget. ISBN 9788245057300. 240 p. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Denne boken er for alle som vil bli god i muntlig formidling, og for deg som skal lære andre å bli det. Å kunne uttrykke seg muntlig er en grunnleggende ferdighet i skolen, men det er mange som kvier seg for å ta ordet. Boken gir lærere inspirasjon og verktøy til å støtte elevers utvikling som trygge muntlige deltakere, og til å bygge et levende, demokratisk ytringsklima – i og utenfor klasserommet. Forfatterne viser hvordan du kan arbeide med muntlige presentasjoner, innlegg og taler. Boken inneholder • en introduksjon til retorikk og retorisk kvalitet, • praktiske råd om skriving av manus, fremføring, lytting og respons, • analyser av bidrag i den nasjonale Ta ordet!-konkurransen, og • konkrete øvelser og undervisningsopplegg i muntlighet. Du lærer hvordan du utvikler overbevisende taler og presentasjoner, hvordan du finner gode argumenter, lager en hensiktsmessig struktur, former et klart og levende språk og gir en sikker og engasjerende fremføring.

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• Hansteen, Hans Marius & Vatnøy, Eirik (2020). INTRODUKTION: FRED, KONFLIKT OG KOMMUNIKASJON. Rhetorica Scandinavica. ISSN 1397-0534. 81, p. 10–13. Full text in Research Archive
• Sandvik, Margareth; Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund; Svennevig, Jan; Vatnøy, Eirik & Andersen, Ida Vikøren (2019). Debatt på TV – spiller det noen rolle? Full text in Research Archive
• Andersen, Ida Vikøren & Vatnøy, Eirik (2019). Defending Norwegian Values: The Receptive End of Ideographs in Epideictic Rhetoric. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik (2017). How should we understand the concept of rhetorical affordances? Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik (2017). The fragmented audience. The televised debate as source of information and engagement in election campaigns. Full text in Research Archive
• Nærland, Torgeir Uberg; Iversen, Magnus Hoem & Vatnøy, Eirik (2016). Victims of the Mainstream Media? Right Wing Populism and Political Debate in Norway. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik; Iversen, Magnus Hoem & Knudsen, Erik (2016). Mistrust in a High-Trust Environment: The Relationship Between Partisanship and Trust in News Media in a Multiparty-System. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik (2016). Three Dimensions of Political Rhetoric. Full text in Research Archive
• Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund; Iversen, Magnus Hoem; Vatnøy, Eirik & Svensson, Trygve (2016). Forkledd festtale. Full text in Research Archive
• Iversen, Magnus Hoem & Vatnøy, Eirik (2015). Encoding/Decoding in rhetoric studies. Full text in Research Archive
• Vatnøy, Eirik; Kjeldsen, Jens Elmelund & Moe, Hallvard (2017). The Rhetoric of Networked Publics. Studying Social Network Sites as Rhetorical Arenas for Political Talk. Universitetet i Bergen. ISSN 9788230838938. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  As social network sites have become a central part of the modern media landscape, they have also become important arenas for political talk between citizens. The possibilities these new arenas offer for social interaction and public participation have generated what social theorists describe as a restructuring of publics into “networked publics”. Numerous studies and theories suggest how the emergence of networked publics influences political participation and democracy. Still, we know little about the nature of discourse in these arenas and how they shape rhetorical practice. This dissertation explores the rhetoric of networked publics by studying the practices and experiences of expert citizens on Twitter and Facebook in Norway. It asks: What characterizes social network sites as rhetorical arenas? And what characterizes political rhetoric on social network sites? The dissertation adds to the growing research literature on vernacular rhetoric and political talk in everyday settings, and offers new ways to explore these perspectives in qualitative studies of online political discourse. Theoretically, it combines perspectives from the fields of rhetoric, political communication and sociology in a new framework designed to analyse and describe how changes in technological and social circumstances affect rhetorical action. The main empirical contribution is a series of 32 in-depth interviews with “expert citizens”. The informants are identified through a snowball sampling process as central actors in a network of well-established voices from the media, politics and academia that use Twitter and Facebook as arenas for political talk and public debate. An analysis of these interviews yields the users’ own experiences that bring new dimensions to our understandings of rhetorical practice in these arenas and to how they shape political talk. Through four thematically separate chapters the analysis of the interviews demonstrates how: 1) the informants see themselves as part of socially and discursively distinguishable networked publics described as the “tweetocracy” and the “Facebook-public”; 2) these networked publics are believed to sustain local argument cultures that separate them from both formal political processes and “ordinary” citizens; 3) these networked publics facilitate a particular kind of individualization of political debate, as they promote strong connections between people’s identities and political convictions; 4) these networked publics are preoccupied with “social mediafriendly issues” that are easy to personalize and bring attention to political identities and values. The empirical study is concluded with an analysis of the viral spread of the hashtag #ihaveexperienced on Twitter in the spring of 2015. Here, text analysis is used to explore topical and discursive structures that are suggested in the interviews. The analysis illustrates how the particular kind of individualization that social network sites facilitate plays out in a situation revolving around a typical social media-friendly issue. It thus exemplifies how insights gathered from interviews can inform and inspire rhetorical text analyses. Drawing on basic insights from theories of structuration, the dissertation outlines how social network sites can be studied as “rhetorical arenas” and analysed as practice on the meso-level. This represents an alternative to analyses of rhetorical genre and rhetorical community. By paying more attention to social and technological conditions for rhetorical practice, this approach is better suited for studies of environments in which situational circumstances are fragmented and continuously changing. The dissertation also offers a new understanding of political rhetoric that includes the different forms of political and civic behaviour found in online environments as well as more traditional forms of political engagement. This understanding of political rhetoric includes perspectives on deliberation, framing and agenda-setting, and epideictic rhetoric, within the same conceptual framework, and opens new ways to understand the political potential of participatory media.

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