Politicians in the News: Media or Party Logic?

Aelst, Peter Van; Maddens, Bart; Noppe, Jo; Fiers, Stefaan

doi:10.1177/0267323108089222

Cited by 110 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(23 reference statements)

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“…The finding that mainly the response of the cabinet minister is newsworthy is in line with extant research that argues that journalists favour sources with more institutional power (Bennett 1990; van Dalen 2011). That, in particular, MPs of government parties are seldom mentioned in the news following a question might be a consequence of the fact that the cabinet ministers (being the more prominent politicians of sometimes the same party) have already received a lot of attention (see also Van Aelst et al 2008).…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying the Tango

Aelst¹,

Vliegenthart²

2013

Journalism Studies

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The relationship between politicians and journalists is often portrayed as an intimate dance, characterized by intFerdependence. The political agenda-setting approach has been used successfully to improve our knowledge of certain aspects of this power relationship. This study builds on this line of research, but in more depth by conducting a detailed and reciprocal analysis of the relationship between press coverage and parliamentary questions in the Netherlands (1995Á2010). Our macro-level approach shows that the effect of media on written questions is stronger than the reverse. A more detailed micro-analysis of media coverage preceding and following oral questions does indicate that most of the questions can be traced back to coverage in the days before, but that they receive less media attention afterwards. This might initially indicate that the media are leading the dance with parliamentarians, at least when it comes to questioning behaviour. In many instances, however, media are not creating the news that MPs rely on, but rather are transmitters of information that originates from other political and nonpolitical sources.Journalism Studies, 2014 Vol. 15, No. 4, 392Á410, http://dx.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying the Tango

Aelst¹,

Vliegenthart²

2013

Journalism Studies

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“…We follow previous research in identifying five news factors that are particularly important for coverage of political actors (see Helfer & Van Aelst, 2016;Hopmann et al, 2012;Tresch, 2009): political power, negativity, surprise, relevance, and continuity. First, we expect messages by powerful politicians to have higher chances to make the news than those sent by actors without a powerful position (Balmas, Rahat, Sheafer, & Shenhav, 2014;Entman, 2007;Galtung & Ruge, 1965;Gans, 1979;Helfer & Van Aelst, 2016;Tresch, 2009;Van Aelst, Maddens, Noppe, & Fiers, 2008;Vliegenthart, Boomgaarden, & Boumans, 2011). Second, the media is particularly attentive to stories that include negativity and conflict (e.g., Ansolabehere & Iyengar, 1995), so campaign messages that satisfy the media's demand for conflict and aggression should carry a higher news value (Gans, 1979).…”

Section: Partisan Bias In Message Selection 369mentioning

confidence: 99%

Partisan Bias in Message Selection: Media Gatekeeping of Party Press Releases

Haselmayer¹,

Wagner²,

Meyer³

2017

Political Communication

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Parties try to shape media coverage in ways that are favorable to them, but what determines whether media outlets pick up and report on party messages? Based on content analyses of 1,496 party press releases and 6,512 media reports from the 2013 Austrian parliamentary election campaign, we show that media coverage of individual party messages is influenced not just by news factors, but also by partisan bias. The media are therefore more likely to report on messages from parties their readers favor. Importantly, this effect is greater rather than weaker when these messages have high news value. These findings have important implications for understanding the media's role in elections and representative democracies in general.

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“…Besides a direct electoral connection, presence in the media arena can also have indirect electoral effects. Parties may put candidates that successfully enter and perform in the media arena higher on the ballot list (Davis, 2010;Van Aelst, Maddens, Noppe, & Fiers, 2008b) or mediatized candidates may attract more funding from sponsors (e.g., Heldman, Carroll, & Olson, 2005). The importance of entering and performing in the media arena goes well beyond elections.…”

Section: The Arena Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information and Arena: The Dual Function of the News Media for Political Elites

Aelst

Walgrave

2016

J Commun

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How do individual politicians use the news media to reach their political goals? This study addresses the question by proposing an actor-centered, functional approach. We distinguish two essential functions (and sub-functions) the mass media have for political elites. The media are a source of information; politicians depend on it for pure information and they can profit from the momentum generated by media information. The media also are an arena elites need access to in order to promote themselves and their issues. These two functions offer certain politicians a structural advantage over others and, hence, are relevant for the power struggle among political elites. A systematic functional account allows to compare the role of the media across politicians and political systems.

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Politicians in the News: Media or Party Logic?

Cited by 110 publications

References 20 publications

Studying the Tango

Studying the Tango

Partisan Bias in Message Selection: Media Gatekeeping of Party Press Releases

Information and Arena: The Dual Function of the News Media for Political Elites

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