Political Communication and Journalism
WEEK 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
- The interactions between politics, media and the public
- The media usually act as a mediator
- Media can set the agenda, the pubic makes sure the media survives, politics wants to
have control over media
- It deals with the relationship between political actors, media and the citizens
- Research is driven by the question who shapes these relationships, and ultimately: who
controls whom?
- Focus on power relations
DOES POLITICAL COMMUNCIATION EVOLVE
- Yes à evolutions go together with larger societal trends (individualisation,
depillarization, the crisis of parties, increased voter volatility, commercialisation, etc.)
- Before, people had more fixed choices à they voted as their parents did, and only
moved within their own ideological groups
- Nowadays, people are more likely to be convinced, convincing becomes more important
- Campaigns/media/individual politicians become more important
- E.g. Sacerdotal approach before (powerful politicians decide what comes in the media)
vs. pragmatic approach now (media has the power/is in charge)
- E.g. Blumler & Kavanagh: 3 ages of political communication
à 1. Pol. communication subordinate to stable political institutions and believes
à 2. Parties “professionalized” and adapted their communications to the news values
and formats of TV
à 3. Still emerging; age of media abundance; 5 trends (increased competitiveness, anti-
elitist populism, changes in how ppl see politics)
- E.g. Van Praag: partisan logic, public logic, media logic
- This is all a process = mediatisation
Mediatisation
- a process or several processes
- first condition = media become the most important way the public can get in contact
with politics
1
,- 4 phases:
1. Mediation = when the media become the main communication channel between
politics and the public (not interpersonal communication anymore)
2. Media become more independent (from political institutions)
o media not controlled by politicians anymore
o higher journalistic professionalism
o the political system still has the upper hand
o media do not mediate messages unconditionally anymore
o they can ask more critical questions
3. media take more control
o media content not mainly governed by political logic anymore
o media become so independent that other actors have to adapt to them and
follow media logic
o media have the upper hand, but are still external to the political system
o politicians have to further increase skills to do this adaptation of the media logic
(following the format, content, grammar, and rhythm of the media, especially in
campaigns)
o media are separate from politics
4. politics adopt the media logic
o politics does not only adapt, the adopt the media logic
o politics no longer ruled by political logic
o standards of media logic/news worthiness become part of governing processes
(evaluations of issues and policies)
o media no longer external
o politicians who need to answer to people are most affected à e.g. politicians in
the US always campaign (there’s always opinion polls) – media are taking over
politics
o colonization of politics by the media
2
,Problems of increased mediatisation
- negativity
- focus on people rather than issues
- focus on short term problems
- focus on conflict
- focus on horse race (e.g. polls)
- too much power for media
- information is not clear to the audience
Are we all in the 4th phase?
- There is no universal 4th phase
- Doesn’t always have to be this way
- It is not a global or unidirectional trend
- Media do not and will not take over the political function
- Moderation of mediatisation, depending on political system, media system, strength of
parties, etc. = some contexts can make mediatisation less strong
- E.g. public broadcasting has the ability to give space to politics but not follow the media
logic that strongly, as they do not have to follow the commercial logic
Should we be scared of the almighty media?
- Media can sway elections
- Politicians may use media as a campaign tool
- Fake news
- E.g. Cambridge Analytica, Brexit
Don’t forget the other factors
- Ideologies still matter
- Various “political cleavages” matter, media cannot just bridge them
- The initiative of what seems to be media influence may originate from politics
- The initiative may originate from the public or NGOs
- How ppl vote is usually not because they read something in the media, but its base don
their opinions, etc. à power and importance of media is often overestimated
- Maybe political actors are just being smart and are using media to their advantage
FUNCTIONS OF MEDIA IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
1. Information = monitoring/informing citizens; media decide what’s selected as important
2. Education = explaining what events/facts mean; giving background
3. Platform function = exchange of ideas à public sphere; journalists should make it
possible that everyone can give their opinion about something; this needs to be
facilitated and the media are a great place to do this
4. Watchdog function = control over politics, publicity for what politics does (wrong);
making sure politicians are not hiding anything and ensuring that the audience knows
everything; investigative journalism; because of commercialization, there is less in-depth
investigations
5. Channel function = political, ideological opinions needs to find their way to the people;
politicians/companies get a chance to have a space where they can express themselves;
channel to reach the public
3
, Role of journalists (role conceptions by Weaver)
1) Disseminator of information = informing function
2) Interpreter (explaining) = education function
3) Adversarial = take the watchdog function seriously; “against” politicians and business
4) Populist mobilizer = links to the platform function; actively finding ideas and bringing
them together; mobilizing people; marginalized ppl get a voice; takes a lot of time – you
have to go into society, so it’s very expensive
Threats to performing these functions
- Conditions = political communication needs to be present in the news media coverage
(all political views), while at the same time it needs to be accessible and understandable
for the public
- Threats:
1) Political actors (re)gain control over media content à lack of pluralism and
independence
o Lack of independence of media
o Lack of internal (within one news medium, all voices from the society are
present) and external pluralism (media are linked to parties, but e.g. if you read
all the newspapers, there is pluralism)
o E.g. censorship, state broadcasters, political decisions over the newsroom
2) Commercialisation, leading to decreased news quality
o About commercialism, attracting an audience as large as possible
o Sensational news
o Leads to the inclusion of sensational elements in the news
o Elements of entertainment enter the news
o So, not much room for political news, which leads to an incomplete overview for
the public
o Do we want a full overview of everything that happens in the political and
societal arena? à journalists give ppl all the important info = full news standard
o Burglar alarm standard = journalists only inform the public when a really
important thing happens (an alarm goes off); media selects what is really
important and bring those events with lots of sensational characteristics, so
people really see it
à criticism on this = media get a lot of power; public is not interested in all that
political news (the alarms keeps ringing)
o Journalists want to stick to the full news standard, and think they do, but in
reality, they follow the alarm standard
o Full news standard is not realistic, but it can be a starting point = journalists need
to do something to maximize information transferal to ppl
3) The audience not being able to process the information provided, or distinguish
news from misinformation
o Video-malaise (1975) = watching TV has very negative effects on the public
à E.g. cynicism, low trust in political institutions, low sense of political efficacy
(the feeling you can understand politics and also do something yourself)
à there are however also positive effects of TV (e.g. increased voting behaviour)
o Dumbing down = ppl cannot process political information anymore
4
WEEK 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
- The interactions between politics, media and the public
- The media usually act as a mediator
- Media can set the agenda, the pubic makes sure the media survives, politics wants to
have control over media
- It deals with the relationship between political actors, media and the citizens
- Research is driven by the question who shapes these relationships, and ultimately: who
controls whom?
- Focus on power relations
DOES POLITICAL COMMUNCIATION EVOLVE
- Yes à evolutions go together with larger societal trends (individualisation,
depillarization, the crisis of parties, increased voter volatility, commercialisation, etc.)
- Before, people had more fixed choices à they voted as their parents did, and only
moved within their own ideological groups
- Nowadays, people are more likely to be convinced, convincing becomes more important
- Campaigns/media/individual politicians become more important
- E.g. Sacerdotal approach before (powerful politicians decide what comes in the media)
vs. pragmatic approach now (media has the power/is in charge)
- E.g. Blumler & Kavanagh: 3 ages of political communication
à 1. Pol. communication subordinate to stable political institutions and believes
à 2. Parties “professionalized” and adapted their communications to the news values
and formats of TV
à 3. Still emerging; age of media abundance; 5 trends (increased competitiveness, anti-
elitist populism, changes in how ppl see politics)
- E.g. Van Praag: partisan logic, public logic, media logic
- This is all a process = mediatisation
Mediatisation
- a process or several processes
- first condition = media become the most important way the public can get in contact
with politics
1
,- 4 phases:
1. Mediation = when the media become the main communication channel between
politics and the public (not interpersonal communication anymore)
2. Media become more independent (from political institutions)
o media not controlled by politicians anymore
o higher journalistic professionalism
o the political system still has the upper hand
o media do not mediate messages unconditionally anymore
o they can ask more critical questions
3. media take more control
o media content not mainly governed by political logic anymore
o media become so independent that other actors have to adapt to them and
follow media logic
o media have the upper hand, but are still external to the political system
o politicians have to further increase skills to do this adaptation of the media logic
(following the format, content, grammar, and rhythm of the media, especially in
campaigns)
o media are separate from politics
4. politics adopt the media logic
o politics does not only adapt, the adopt the media logic
o politics no longer ruled by political logic
o standards of media logic/news worthiness become part of governing processes
(evaluations of issues and policies)
o media no longer external
o politicians who need to answer to people are most affected à e.g. politicians in
the US always campaign (there’s always opinion polls) – media are taking over
politics
o colonization of politics by the media
2
,Problems of increased mediatisation
- negativity
- focus on people rather than issues
- focus on short term problems
- focus on conflict
- focus on horse race (e.g. polls)
- too much power for media
- information is not clear to the audience
Are we all in the 4th phase?
- There is no universal 4th phase
- Doesn’t always have to be this way
- It is not a global or unidirectional trend
- Media do not and will not take over the political function
- Moderation of mediatisation, depending on political system, media system, strength of
parties, etc. = some contexts can make mediatisation less strong
- E.g. public broadcasting has the ability to give space to politics but not follow the media
logic that strongly, as they do not have to follow the commercial logic
Should we be scared of the almighty media?
- Media can sway elections
- Politicians may use media as a campaign tool
- Fake news
- E.g. Cambridge Analytica, Brexit
Don’t forget the other factors
- Ideologies still matter
- Various “political cleavages” matter, media cannot just bridge them
- The initiative of what seems to be media influence may originate from politics
- The initiative may originate from the public or NGOs
- How ppl vote is usually not because they read something in the media, but its base don
their opinions, etc. à power and importance of media is often overestimated
- Maybe political actors are just being smart and are using media to their advantage
FUNCTIONS OF MEDIA IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
1. Information = monitoring/informing citizens; media decide what’s selected as important
2. Education = explaining what events/facts mean; giving background
3. Platform function = exchange of ideas à public sphere; journalists should make it
possible that everyone can give their opinion about something; this needs to be
facilitated and the media are a great place to do this
4. Watchdog function = control over politics, publicity for what politics does (wrong);
making sure politicians are not hiding anything and ensuring that the audience knows
everything; investigative journalism; because of commercialization, there is less in-depth
investigations
5. Channel function = political, ideological opinions needs to find their way to the people;
politicians/companies get a chance to have a space where they can express themselves;
channel to reach the public
3
, Role of journalists (role conceptions by Weaver)
1) Disseminator of information = informing function
2) Interpreter (explaining) = education function
3) Adversarial = take the watchdog function seriously; “against” politicians and business
4) Populist mobilizer = links to the platform function; actively finding ideas and bringing
them together; mobilizing people; marginalized ppl get a voice; takes a lot of time – you
have to go into society, so it’s very expensive
Threats to performing these functions
- Conditions = political communication needs to be present in the news media coverage
(all political views), while at the same time it needs to be accessible and understandable
for the public
- Threats:
1) Political actors (re)gain control over media content à lack of pluralism and
independence
o Lack of independence of media
o Lack of internal (within one news medium, all voices from the society are
present) and external pluralism (media are linked to parties, but e.g. if you read
all the newspapers, there is pluralism)
o E.g. censorship, state broadcasters, political decisions over the newsroom
2) Commercialisation, leading to decreased news quality
o About commercialism, attracting an audience as large as possible
o Sensational news
o Leads to the inclusion of sensational elements in the news
o Elements of entertainment enter the news
o So, not much room for political news, which leads to an incomplete overview for
the public
o Do we want a full overview of everything that happens in the political and
societal arena? à journalists give ppl all the important info = full news standard
o Burglar alarm standard = journalists only inform the public when a really
important thing happens (an alarm goes off); media selects what is really
important and bring those events with lots of sensational characteristics, so
people really see it
à criticism on this = media get a lot of power; public is not interested in all that
political news (the alarms keeps ringing)
o Journalists want to stick to the full news standard, and think they do, but in
reality, they follow the alarm standard
o Full news standard is not realistic, but it can be a starting point = journalists need
to do something to maximize information transferal to ppl
3) The audience not being able to process the information provided, or distinguish
news from misinformation
o Video-malaise (1975) = watching TV has very negative effects on the public
à E.g. cynicism, low trust in political institutions, low sense of political efficacy
(the feeling you can understand politics and also do something yourself)
à there are however also positive effects of TV (e.g. increased voting behaviour)
o Dumbing down = ppl cannot process political information anymore
4
