ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which charisma is expressed through the media. Audio and audiovisual media – radio, television, cinema, and internet platforms such as YouTube – offer the means for charismatic individuals to exhibit the “charisma of rhetoric” (Weber) in speech-making performances. Print media provides commentary on the charisma – or its lack – displayed by politicians or other public figures. The chapter includes a case study of press coverage of Barack Obama’s presidency (2008–2016), detailing the “routinization of charisma” predicted by Weber.
