Abstract
Whenever we examine the mediatization of politics, we address inherently normative and fundamental issues concerning the quality of democracy (Kriesi, 2013). So far, it seems that media system analyses at the macro level with links to democracy theory have tended to be conceptual and only rarely include empirical tests, such as analyses of media structures and content. At the same time, the empirically rich mediatization research that focuses on the media logic reflected in the media content (the third dimension of mediatization, according to Strömbäck, 2008) relies on sophisticated analyses to explain how structural features, such as the degree of media autonomy (the second dimension of mediatization), shape news coverage. However, this research tends to concentrate on finding mechanisms for specific types of news outlets and devotes less attention to the media system as a whole and the (normative) social implications of these mechanisms. For instance, although it may be possible to explain why a certain media type shows more signs of media logic over the course of time, it would also be useful to know whether this media type becomes more or less representative in the context of a specific media system over time and what this may mean for the quality of democratic debate.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adam, S., & Berkel, B. (2006). Media Structures as an Obstacle to the Europeanization of Public Spheres? Development of a Cross-National Typology. In M. Maier & J. Tenscher (Eds.), Campaigning in Europe — Campaigning for Europe: Political Parties, Campaigns, Mass Media and the European Parliament Elections 2004 (pp. 45–66). Berlin: Lit.
Altheide, D. L., & Snow, R. P. (1979). Media Logic. Beverly Hills, London: Sage.
Beam, R. A. (2003). Content Differences between Daily Newspapers with Strong and Weak Market Orientations. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 80(2), 368–390.
Benson, B. (2004). Bringing the Sociology of Media Back In. Political Communication, 21(3), 275–292.
Benson, R., & Hallin, D. C. (2007). How States, Markets and Globalization Shape the News: The French and US National Press, 1965–1997. European Journal of Communication, 22(27), 27–48.
Berkel, B. (2006). Political Parallelism in News and Commentaries on the Haider Conflict: A Comparative Analysis of Austrian, British, German, and French Quality Newspapers. Communications, 31(1), 85–104.
Blunder, J. G. & Kavanagh, D. (1999). The Third Age of Political Communication: Influences and Features. Political Communication, 16(3), 209–230.
Brants, K., & van Praag, P. (2006). Signs of Media Logic: Half a Century of Political Communication in the Netherlands. Javnost/The Public, 13(1), 24–40.
Brüggemann, M., Esser, F., & Humprecht, E. (2012). The Strategic Repertoire of Publishers in the Media Crisis: The “Five C” Scheme in Germany. Journalism Studies, 13(5–6), 742–752.
Curran, J. (2000). Rethinking Media and Democracy. In J. Curran & M. Gurevitch (Eds.), Mass Media and Society (pp. 120–154). London: Arnold.
Curran, J. (2011). Media and Democracy. London: Routledge.
Curran, J., Iyengar, S., Brink Lund, A., & Salovaara-Moring, I. (2009). Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy: A Comparative Study. European Journal of Communication, 24(1), 5–26.
Curran, J., Salovaara-Moring, I., Coen, S., & Iyengar, S. (2010). Crime, Foreigners and Hard News: A Cross-national Comparison of Reporting and Public Perception. Journalism, 11(1), 3–19.
Esser, F. (2008). Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 13(4), 401–428.
Esser, F. (2013). Mediatization as a Challenge: Media Logic versus Political Logic. In H. Kriesi, S. Lavenex, F. Esser, J. Matthes, M. Bühlmann & D. Bochsler (Eds.), Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization (pp. 155–176). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Esser, F., & Hemmer, K. (2008). Characteristics and Dynamics of Election News Coverage in Germany. In J. Strömbäck & L. Lee Kaid (Eds.), The Handbook of Election News Coverage around the World (pp. 289–307). New York: Routledge.
fög — Forschungsbereich Öffentlichkeit und Gesellschaft/Universität Zürich (Ed.) (2012). Jahrbuch 2012 Qualität der Medien. Schweiz — Suisse — Svizzera. Basel: Schwabe.
Habermas, J. (2006). Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research. Communication Theory, 16(4), 411–426.
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hanitzsch, T. (2008). Comparing Media Systems Reconsidered: Recent Development and Directions for Future Research. Journal of Global Mass Communication, 1(3/4), 111–117.
Imhof, K. (2006). Mediengesellschaft und Medialisierung. Medien & Kommunikationswissenschaft, M & K, 54(2), 191–215.
Imhof, K. (2011). Die Krise der Öffentlichkeit: Kommunikation und Medien als Faktoren des sozialen Wandels. Frankfurt am Main: Campus.
Kriesi, H. (2012). Personalization of National Election Campaigns. Party Politics, 18(6), 825–844.
Kriesi, H. (2013). Conclusion: An Assessment of the State of Democracy Given the Challenges of Globalization and Mediatization. In H. Kriesi, S. Lavenex, F. Esser, J. Matthes, M. Bühlmann & D. Bochsler (Eds.), Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization (pp. 202–215). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kuhn, R. (2007). Politics and the Media in Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Magin, M., & Stark, B. (2011). Österreich — Land ohne Leuchttürme? Qualitätszeitungen im Spannungsfeld zwischen publizistischer Leistung und strukturellen Zwängen. In R. Blum, K. Imhof, H. Bonfadelli & O. Jarren (Eds.), Krise der Leuchttürme öffentlicher Kommunikation — Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Qualitätsmedien (pp. 97–114). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag.
Magin, M. (2013). Die “Abflachungsspirale” — Fakt oder Fiktion? Boulevardisierungstendenzen in der Wahlkampfberichterstattung deutscher und österreichischer Tageszeitungen (1949–2006). In T. Roessing & N. Podschuweit (Eds.), Politische Kommunikation in Zeiten des Medienwandels (pp. 257–287). Berlin: de Gruyter.
Mazzoleni, G. (2008). Media Logic. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (pp. 3052–3055). Oxford: Blackwell.
McMenamin, I., Flynn, R., O’Malley, E., & Rafter, K. (2012). Commercialism and Election Framing: A Content Analysis of Twelve Newspapers in the 2011 Irish General Election. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(2), 167–187.
McNair, B. (2003). News and Journalism in the UK. London: Routledge.
McQuail, D. (2013). Media Structure and Performance: Reflections on a Changed Environment. In M. Puppis, M. Künzler & O. Jarren (Eds.), Media Structures and Media Performance. Medienstrukturen und Medienperformanz (pp. 45–66). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Melischek, G., & Seethaler, J. (Eds.) (1999). Die Wiener Tageszeitungen: Eine Dokumentation. Bd. 5: 1945–1955. Mit einem Überblick über die österreichische Tagespresse der Zweiten Republik bis 1998. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.
Patterson, T. E. (2000). Doing Well and Doing Good: How Soft News and Critical Journalism are Shrinking the News Audience and Weakening Democracy — and What News Outlets Can Do about It. Cambridge: Harvard University, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.
Pew Research Center. (2013). The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. The State of the News Media 2013: An Annual Report on American Journalism. http://stateofthemedia.org/, date accessed 15 May 2013.
Picard, R. G. (2004). Commercialism and Newspaper Quality. Newspaper Research Journal, 25(1), 54–65.
Puppis, M. (2009). Media Regulation in Small States. International Communication Gazette, 71(1–2), 7–17.
Rahat, G., & T. Sheafer (2007). The Personalization(s) of Politics: Israel, 1949–2003. Political Communication, 24(1), 65–80.
Reinemann, C., Stanyer, J., Scherr, S., & Legnante, G. (2012). Hard and Soft News: A Review of Concepts, Operationalizations and Key Findings. Journalism, 13(2), 221–239.
Seethaler, J., & Melischek, G. (2006). Die Pressekonzentration in Österreich im europäischen Vergleich [Press concentration in European comparison]. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft [Austrian Journal for Political Science], 35(4), 337–360.
Seymour-Ure, C. (1974). The Political Impact of Mass Media. London: Constable.
Seymour-Ure, C. (1996). The British Press and Broadcasting since 1945. Oxford: Blackwell.
Shehata, A., & Strömbäck, J. (2011). A Matter of Context: A Comparative Study of Media Environments and News Consumption Gaps in Europe. Political Communication, 28(1), 110–134.
Sparks, C. (2000). Introduction: The Panic over Tabloid News. In C. Sparks & J. Tulloch (Eds.), Tabloid Tales. Global Debates over Media Standards (pp. 1–40). Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield.
Strömbäck, J. (2008). Four Phases of Mediatization: An Analysis of the Mediatization of Politics. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 13(3), 228–246.
Strömbäck, J., & Dimitrova, D. V. (2006). Political and Media Systems Matter: A Comparison of Election News Coverage in Sweden and the United States. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 11(4), 131–147.
Strömbäck, J., & van Aelst, P. (2010). Exploring Some Antecedents of the Media’s Framing of Election News: A Comparison of Swedish and Belgian Election News. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 15(1), 41–59.
Udris, L. (2012). The Press and the Repeal of National Prohibition. In T. Welskopp & A. Lessoff (Eds.), Fractured Modernity — America Confronts Modern Times, 1890s to 1940s (pp. 97–127). München: Oldenbourg.
Udris, L., & Lucht, J. (2011). Qualitätsmedien in Pressesystemen: Wandel der Medienstrukturen gleich Wandel der Medieninhalte? In R. Blum, H. Bonfadelli, K. Imhof & O. Jarren (Eds.), Krise der Leuchttürme öffentlicher Kommunikation — Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Qualitätsmedien (pp. 151–176). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
van Kempen, H. (2007). Media-Party Parallelism and Its Effects: A Cross-National Comparative Study. Political Communication, 24(3), 303–320.
Vasterman, P. L. M. (2005). Media-Hype: Self-Reinforcing News Waves, Journalistic Standards and the Construction of Social Problems. European Journal of Communication, 20(4), 508–530.
Vliegenthart, R., Boomgaarden, H. G., & Boumans, J. W. (2011). Changes in Political News Coverage: Personalization, Conflict and Negativity in British and Dutch Newspapers. In K. Brants & K. Voltmer (Eds.), Political Communication in Postmodern Democracy: Challenging the Primacy of Politics (pp. 92–110). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Vliegenthart, R., & Walgrave, S. (2008). The Contingency of Intermedia Agenda Setting: A Longitudinal Study in Belgium. J&MC Quarterly, 85(4), 860–877.
Wadbring, I. (2013). Levels of Commercialisation. In M. Puppis, M. Künzler & O. Jarren (Eds.), Media Structures and Media Performance. Medienstrukturen und Medienperformanz (pp. 119–134). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Ward, G. (2007). UK National Newspapers. In P. J. Anderson & G. Ward (Eds.), The Future of Journalism in the Advanced Democracies (pp. 73–88). Aldershot: Ashgate.
Wilke, J., & Reinemann, C. (2001). Do the Candidates Matter? Long-Term Trends of Campaign Coverage — A Study of the German Press since 1949. European Journal of Communication, 16(3), 291–314.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 Linards Udris and Jens Lucht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Udris, L., Lucht, J. (2014). Mediatization at the Structural Level: Independence from Politics, Dependence on the Market. In: Esser, F., Strömbäck, J. (eds) Mediatization of Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137275844_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137275844_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-42597-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-27584-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)