“Show,Don’t Tell”: How Communication Teams Develop the Visual Strategies of Populist and Non-Populist Actors

Abstract

Despite the growing attention to visual political communication (VPC), we still know little about how visuals are produced by populist and non-populist actors. This article addresses this gap through in-depth semi-structured interviews with high-profile members of the communication teams of the major Italian political parties and leaders—that is, the experts shaping their communication strategies. Our exploratory study offers an unprecedented “insider” perspective on the conception, design, and deployment of political visuals, providing new insights into VPC. Notably, the findings challenge common assumptions about the distinctiveness of populist VPC, revealing that hallmark features often associated with populism—such as emotionally charged imagery and specific chromatic and stylistic choices—are frequently adopted by non-populist actors as well. This convergence suggests that social media platforms incentivize all political actors to adopt particular visual strategies. Consequently, it is misleading to consider specific visual elements intrinsically populist; instead, VPC appears primarily as a strategic choice.