One of the reasons social-media-savvy politicians still front up to forums like the National Press Club is to generate short, shareable clips that can be distributed on social media.
The clips, and their message, can then be found by audiences who are not watching daytime TV or monitoring news channels.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s address yesterday is a good example.
On her social media channels, her 90-minute appearance, including subsequent questions, has been clipped up into a 2 minute and 46 second highlight reel.
The power of the clip is seen on Senator Hanson’s Facebook page, where the video sits alongside the full address.
The whole speech sits at about 451,000 views, according to Facebook.
The clipped-up version, at time of writing, is more than double at more than 1 million views.
Pauline Hanson posted a highlight reel of her address to her social media accounts. (Supplied)
“We’re in the information age and that means most of us have so much information in our lives and we only have a limited capacity for processing all that information one day,” ANU political marketing researcher Andrew Hughes told ABC NEWS Verify.
Hence, why politics is becoming about the quick grab, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, the TikTok content. It’s very popular for that reason,” he said.
Susan Grantham, a lecturer in communications at Griffith University, said the practice had begun with the clipping of podcasts.
“Not a lot of people actually listen to the full podcast, but they do listen to the short clips, and that’s what creates outrage, and it’s what creates excitement, and it’s what creates humour, which ultimately is what social media is all about,” Dr Grantham said.
“The algorithm prioritises certain approaches, and that often sits around emotional aspects, so humour, rage, you know, excitement.
“When we have these longer clips, the pulling out of those very specific aspects of them is what actually gets the algorithm working and it tends to be what more of society sees.”
Yesterday, the ABC’s Annabel Crabb wrote that Senator Hanson went to National Press Club looking for a scrap with journalists, with the One Nation leader getting at least one.
The highlight reel features 38 seconds of Senator Hanson criticising a Guardian Australia journalist, which has been called an “assault on the freedom of the press” by the media union.
Pauline Hanson clashed with Guardian journalist Sarah Martin after Martin asked her a question. (Supplied: National Press Club)
Also there, a comeback: “Not if I’ve got any say in it”, in response to the question: “Is Australia in danger of being swamped by Muslim migration?”
She also jokes about a recent run-in with a Channel 9 reporter, talks about shutting down SBS, and speaks about fundraising transparency.
Dr Hughes said they were moments that engaged audiences online.
“She’s trying to create that narrative of maintain the rage.
“If you notice, she really dialled up her presentation at the press club into topic issues. That was also done for social media,” he said.
A scan of TikTok and other platforms shows other videos made using similar clips from the Press Club appearance, some with tens of thousands of views.
Many of these are mainstream media accounts, including the ABC’s.
But some are right-wing influencers, like Avi Yemeni and Rukshan Fernando, reacting to some of the moments, including telling an SBS journalist she will be out of a job if One Nation gains power and shuts down the broadcaster.
“It’s not just the clip itself. It’s the clip and the wider ecosystem that goes along with it,” Dr Grantham said.
“That’s the whole point of [TikTok] is to take other people’s content and turn it into your own. That’s what feeds into the wider ecosystem.“
Alongside many of Senator Hanson’s clips are videos of GetUp’s banner stunt.
Progressive activist group GetUp unveiled a pre-installed banner behind Pauline Hanson. (Supplied)
The progressive activist group posted its own clip of the moment, which has close to half a million views on TikTok.
This phenomenon is not unique to Hanson. All politicians clip up their media appearances in one form or another.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Instagram has a video posted on April 2 featuring a Press Club appearance with 255,000 views.
Others might clip up favourable moments from time on the News Breakfast couch, an appearance on 7.30, or during Question Time.
“It’s funny because I can see them, how they’ve been trained by the media teams,” Dr Hughes said.
“They give enough grab, or a sentence or two, where they know it’s going to be controversial, and they know is going to play out there in the marketplace.“
