The growing visibility of celebrity culture in contemporary politics has changed the way political leadership is presented, communicated and understood. In an environment shaped by continuous media exposure and increasingly powerful digital platforms, politicians are no longer represented only through formal speeches, party programmes, parliamentary work or conventional news coverage. They are also presented through carefully designed images, personal narratives, visual performances, social-media posts, interviews and other forms of popular communication. This study examines this wider process as the celebritization of politics. It focuses particularly on the relationship between mediatization, digital media, celebrity culture and the personalization of political leadership.
The study distinguishes celebritization from the simple entry of celebrities into politics. Its concern is with politicians who adopt the styles, techniques and communicative resources associated with celebrity culture in order to build recognition, popularity and political influence. The discussion brings together the concepts of mediation, mediatization, media logic, political logic, deep mediatization, network media logic and mediated political persona. It also examines the major artefacts of celebrity culture, including branding, visual style, emotional communication, controlled self-disclosure, and the public-private divide and audience identification.
Using a qualitative case-study approach, the study examines Narendra Modi in the Indian context. Particular attention is given to his use of visual symbolism, rhetoric, social media, public interactions, personal narratives and carefully managed performances. The study argues that contemporary politics increasingly operates through a combination of political substance and mediated performance. Digital media have not simply increased political visibility, but they have also changed the conditions under which political personas are produced, circulated and interpreted. The result is a form of politics in which leadership is increasingly experienced through the language of personality, popularity, intimacy, branding and spectacle.
Political Leadership, Mediatization, Celebritization, Digital Media, Branding, Narendra Modi
Dr. Shilpa Shaw. Media Technologies and Celebrity Culture: The Personalization of Political Communication. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(9):93-102
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