Political Journalism in Comparative Perspective

Political journalism is often under fire. Conventional wisdom and much scholarly research suggest that journalists are cynics and political pundits. Political news is void of substance and overly focused on strategy and persons. Citizens do not learn from the news, are politically cynical, and are dissatisfied with the media. This book challenges these assumptions, which are often based on single-country studies with limited empirical observations about the relation between news production, content, and journalism's effects. Based on interviews with journalists, a systematic content analysis of political news, and panel survey data in different countries, this book tests how different systems and media-politics relations condition the contents of political news. It shows how different content creates different effects, and demonstrates that under the right circumstances citizens learn from political news, do not become cynical, and are satisfied with political journalism.

Erik Albæk is Professor of Journalism and Political Science and Research Director at the Centre for Journalism, Department of Political Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark. His work has appeared in numerous journals including Journalism, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, Political Communication, the Journal of Communication, the European Journal of Communication, and Party Politics. He is former chairman of the Danish Social Science Research Council and the Nordic Political Science Association.

Arjen van Dalen is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Journalism, Department of Political Science and Public Management at the University of Southern Denmark. His work has been published in The Global Journalists in the 21st Century (edited by David Weaver and Lars Willnat, 2012) and journals such as the European Journal of Communication, Political Communication, the International Journal of Press/Politics, Journalism, and Journalism Studies. He has lived, studied, and worked in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Denmark.

Nael Jebril is a postdoctoral fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford. He holds a PhD in journalism (2011) from the Centre for Journalism, Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, and an MA in global journalism (2006) from Örebro University, Sweden. His research has received support from the Danish Social Science Research Council.

Claes H. de Vreese is Professor and Chair of Political Communication and Director of the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam. He is the founding Director of the Center for Politics and Communication (www.polcomm.org) and Adjunct Professor of Political Science and Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark. His research interests include comparative journalism research, the effects of news, public opinion and European integration, effects of information and campaigning on elections, referendums, and direct democracy.