19. Political communication

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Esser ◽  
Barbara Pfetsch
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political News ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Message Production ◽  
Usage Patterns

This chapter examines the dimensions of the political communication system. It first explains the rationale for a comparative study of political communication before discussing relevant models of relationship between media and political institutions as well as differences in political communication cultures among media and political elites. It then reviews findings on country-specific reporting styles in political news coverage and evaluates divergent approaches in government communication and election communication. On the side of the citizens, the chapter explores cross-national differences in the consumption of political news, along with the positive contribution of public service broadcasters for informed and enlightened citizenship. Finally, it looks at political information flows, comparing message production by political actors, political message production by media actors, usage patterns of political information, and effects of political communication.

19. Political Communication

2020 ◽  
pp. 336-358
Author(s):  
Frank Esser ◽  
Barbara Pfetsch
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political News ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Message Production ◽  
Usage Patterns

This chapter examines the dimensions of the political communication system. It first explains the rationale for a comparative study of political communication before discussing relevant models of relationship between media and political institutions, as well as differences in political communication cultures among media and political elites. It then reviews findings on country-specific reporting styles in political news coverage and evaluates divergent approaches in government communication and election communication. On the side of the citizens, the chapter explores cross-national differences in the consumption of political news, along with the positive contribution of public service broadcasters for informed and enlightened citizenship. Finally, it looks at political information flows, comparing message production by political actors, political message production by media actors, usage patterns of political information, and effects of political communication.

Online Versus Offline Strategies in Comparative Perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 903-924
Author(s):  
Tiago Silva
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Political Information ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
The Press

The Internet has undoubtedly become, in this last decade, an important new arena for political communication. Nonetheless, during electoral campaigns, the use of this medium poses both challenges and advantages for the institutional communication made by political parties and candidates. An often-overlooked advantage is the possibility, particularly on social media, for parties and candidates to bypass journalists and communicate directly to a large and varied audience. This aspect is particularly relevant since the literature has been noting, in the last decades, a decline in the salience of substantive political information in the mainstream news coverage of political events. By comparing the political actors’ campaigns on social media with press news coverage of those campaigns, this chapter examines the role and impact of the Internet on modern political communication. An extensive content analysis of four electoral campaigns in four different countries (United States, Italy, Brazil, and Portugal) shows that candidates’ and parties’ online campaigns, compared to news articles in the press, tend to be more frequently framed in terms of substantive political issues. Even though there are differences between political actors and the social media platforms used (Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube), the results suggest that, overall, candidates and parties do actually try to convey substantive political information when communicating directly to the electorate. Furthermore, compared to articles in the press, social media campaigns also tend to be less frequently framed in terms of conflict, political scandals, and strategy aspects.

scholarly journals Social media and democracy: How the Facebook usage patterns of Toronto city councilors influence political engagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
National Governments

In the early days of the Internet, many political communication theorists held the utopian belief that political actors would use online tools to communicate directly with members of the public, and thereby bolster political engagement and enrich democracy. Unfortunately, studies over the past two decades found that political websites were not usually used to interact directly with the public, but instead were used to simply disseminate information in a one-way information-sharing model. However, the emergence of social media sites presents political actors with the opportunity to interact with the public far more easily than websites had previously allowed. Given the widespread adoption and high usage rates of social media sites, these online resources could potentially open up a space for public discussion about politics and allow political actors to interact directly with members of the public. Literature indicates that this type of shared space is conducive to the kind of civic mindset that leads to higher rates of political engagement. Research on political uses of social media tends to focus on the use of social media engagement. Research on political uses of social media tends to focus on the use of social media within elections, such as the 2008 U.S presidential election, and on the use of social media by national governments. I have chosen instead to examine how a group of municipal councilors in Toronto, Ontario uses social media. These politicians have the greatest need to interact directly with individuals throughout their term of service because municipal councilors are expected to know the members of their ward far more intimately than federal, or even provincial, politicians. My study focuses on the use of Facebook because literature indicates that it is the most political social media platform and that it presents politicians with the greatest opportunity to foster political engagement online. Through analysis of the Facebook pages of Toronto city councilors this study examines the degree to which councilors use Facebook to engage their followers, whether certain citizens are consistently engaged in ongoing political discussions, and whether small communities of politically engaged citizens develop around the Facebook profiles of councilors.

scholarly journals Political news on TV: are the citizens apathetic or interested in it?

Comunicar ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 13 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
Salomé Berrocal-Gonzalo
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
The Political ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Political News

This article analyzes the changes that have taken place in the political communication from the birth of television. A historical review of the functions that have been having the television until becomes the first source of political information for the citizens it is shown in this article. The research analyzes the effects that the new political communication has in the presentation of the political information as well as in the audience. One of the most important conclusion is the affirmation that at the same time that the television popularizes the policy, it allows a fast and easy access to this type of information. The citizens are apathetic and disinterested in it. Esta comunicación analiza los cambios que se han producido en la comunicación política desde el nacimiento de la televisión. En el estudio se realiza un repaso histórico a las tres etapas que marcan las distintas funciones que ha ido teniendo el medio audiovisual, hasta llegar a ser la primera fuente de información política para los ciudadanos. Un ejemplo reciente de ello, es el seguimiento de los españoles durante el último debate del estado de la nación, celebrado en el mes de mayo de 2005. Según el Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS), un 34,5% de los encuestados siguieron el Debate sólo por televisión, un 11,7% lo hicieron en parte por televisión y en parte por radio, frente a un 5,8% que escucharon el debate sólo a través de la radio y un 48% que no lo siguió. Además, la investigación analiza los géneros que utiliza la televisión para acercar la política a los ciudadanos, y cuáles son sus efectos en la audiencia. Una de las conclusiones más relevantes es la afirmación de que al mismo tiempo que la televisión populariza la política, es decir, permite un acceso rápido y fácil a este tipo de información, los ciudadanos se muestran apáticos y desinteresados en ella. Siguiendo el estudio del CIS, sobre el debate del estado de la Nación , un 63,8% de los encuestados respondieron que el debate no había tratado los temas que realmente les preocupan. Este estudio intenta responder a las siguientes cuestiones: ¿Se puede hablar de un desinterés generalizado hacia la política entre los españoles? Si como marcan las encuestas, desde el comienzo de la transición política en nuestro país la televisión es primera fuente de información política, ¿es la televisión culpable de esta apatía política?, ¿cómo se presenta la información política en el medio audiovisual?, ¿no se ocupan los representantes políticos de los temas que interesan a los ciudadanos?, o ¿es el medio audiovisual el que no atiende a los intereses informativos? El trabajo que se presenta permite reflexionar sobre el origen del desinterés que suscita entre los españoles la vida política, y plantea si podemos culpabilizar únicamente al medio televisivo de la situación, o si es necesario mencionar otros factores como: el funcionamiento de los propios partidos políticos, la actuación de los representantes de la política, o la falta de responsabilidad de los ciudadanos.

How Newspapers Reveal Political Power

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (04) ◽  
pp. 661-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Ban ◽  
Alexander Fouirnaies ◽  
Andrew B Hall ◽  
James M Snyder
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Political Power ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Relative Power ◽  
State Party ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political News ◽  
Strong Indicator ◽  
Word Frequencies

Political science is in large part the study of power, but power itself is difficult to measure. We argue that we can use newspaper coverage—in particular, the relative amount of space devoted to particular subjects in newspapers—to measure the relative power of an important set of political actors and offices. We use a new dataset containing nearly 50 million historical newspaper pages from 2,700 local US newspapers over the years 1877–1977. We define and discuss a measure of power we develop based on observed word frequencies, and we validate it through a series of analyses. Overall, we find that the relative coverage of political actors and of political offices is a strong indicator of political power for the cases we study. To illustrate its usefulness, we then apply the measure to understand when (and where) state party committees lost their power. Taken together, the paper sheds light on the nature of political news coverage and offers both a new dataset and a new measure for studying political power in a wide set of contexts.

New Media and Politics: A Synopsis of Theories, Issues, and Research

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Wei ◽  
Larry Zhiming Xu
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
International Setting ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Media Systems

The ongoing revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has fundamentally transformed the landscape of democracy and the way people engage in politics. From the configuration of media systems to the decision-making of the voting public, the changes have permeated through almost every level of society, affecting political institutions, political actors, citizen groups, and mass media. For each aspect, a synopsis of classical and emergent political communication theories, contemporary and contentious political issues, and cutting-edge research adds to the discussion of new media. The discussion is unfolded with an account of research of new media effects on politics in international setting and cross-cultural contexts with insights of how Western theories and research apply (or fail to) in international contexts.

The Popularization of Political Communication

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-34
Author(s):  
Diego Ceccobelli
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Sufficient Conditions ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Media System ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
High Level

This article presents and adopts a new definition of the popularization of political communication, which is defined as a strategic communicative action through which political actors try to create new connections with those citizens who do not still know, follow and support them and to emotionally strengthen the political bond with their current sympathizers. Second, a comparative analysis of the Facebook pages of the main political leaders of 31 countries shows that the popularization of political communication is a relevant phenomenon on Facebook, while a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) indicates that the presence of a presidential system, a high digitalization of the media system, and a high level of trust in political institutions are three sufficient conditions for a “pop” communication on Facebook. Finally, the article identifies and discusses its main properties and development under the current hybrid media system.

scholarly journals Why context, relevance and repetition matter in news reporting: Interpreting the United Kingdom’s political information environment

Journalism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-53
Author(s):  
Stephen Cushion ◽  
Justin Lewis ◽  
Allaina Kilby
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
News Media ◽  
Television News ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Information Environment ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Structured Interviews

This study develops a multi-method approach to analysing political information environments, exploring how media and political systems help shape people’s understanding of news. In doing so, we ask a question fundamental to democratic citizenship: how well do news media communicate political responsibility and policy differences across political systems? Our study examines the United Kingdom’s political information environment, where significant power is devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with different political parties in control. Drawing on a content analysis of 17,765 news items, a representative survey of 3272 respondents and 15 semi-structured interviews, we examine the dominant information sources about UK politics by longitudinally tracing coverage of devolved issues from 2007 to 2016, and gauging how well it was understood by television news viewers. Our results suggest that while BBC news is more sensitive to communicating the devolved relevance of news than more commercial outlets, there remains a democratic deficit in the supply of political information and audience understanding of where power and responsibility lies. If news coverage more regularly communicated the relevance and context of devolved issues, we argue it could open up democratic opportunities for citizens to consider a wider range of policy options debated in all four political institutions.

scholarly journals Politicians, Parties, and Government Representatives on Instagram: A Review on Research Approaches, Usage Patterns, and Effects

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bast ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Video Sharing ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
The Government

The photo and video sharing social network Instagram attracts an impressive number of users, among them political actors such as politicians, parties, and members of the government. Instagram's focus on images, which can be accompanied by lengthy captions as well as a range of other communication tools, suggests that the platform has high potential for political communication. Therefore, it is no surprise that Instagram has attracted the interest of scholars of various research areas. This article provides a systematic review of 37 studies on Instagram usage by politicians, parties, and governments. The aim is to gather substantiated knowledge while identifying research gaps. To this end, the review focuses on three key areas of Instagram research: who uses Instagram, how do they use it, and with what effect? Methodological approaches, databases, and applied theories are included to provide a comprehensive overview of research on Instagram. Based on the findings, points of departure for future research are identified.

scholarly journals Social media and democracy: How the Facebook usage patterns of Toronto city councilors influence political engagement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
National Governments

In the early days of the Internet, many political communication theorists held the utopian belief that political actors would use online tools to communicate directly with members of the public, and thereby bolster political engagement and enrich democracy. Unfortunately, studies over the past two decades found that political websites were not usually used to interact directly with the public, but instead were used to simply disseminate information in a one-way information-sharing model. However, the emergence of social media sites presents political actors with the opportunity to interact with the public far more easily than websites had previously allowed. Given the widespread adoption and high usage rates of social media sites, these online resources could potentially open up a space for public discussion about politics and allow political actors to interact directly with members of the public. Literature indicates that this type of shared space is conducive to the kind of civic mindset that leads to higher rates of political engagement. Research on political uses of social media tends to focus on the use of social media engagement. Research on political uses of social media tends to focus on the use of social media within elections, such as the 2008 U.S presidential election, and on the use of social media by national governments. I have chosen instead to examine how a group of municipal councilors in Toronto, Ontario uses social media. These politicians have the greatest need to interact directly with individuals throughout their term of service because municipal councilors are expected to know the members of their ward far more intimately than federal, or even provincial, politicians. My study focuses on the use of Facebook because literature indicates that it is the most political social media platform and that it presents politicians with the greatest opportunity to foster political engagement online. Through analysis of the Facebook pages of Toronto city councilors this study examines the degree to which councilors use Facebook to engage their followers, whether certain citizens are consistently engaged in ongoing political discussions, and whether small communities of politically engaged citizens develop around the Facebook profiles of councilors.

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