Mediatization of political reality: Implications of media-centered reporting styles for democracy

Frank Esser & Andrea Umbricht

This project studies an important factor of the process of mediatization of politics that is seen as its driving force: media logic. Media logic refers to how politics is represented and defined in the news media. It is characterized by specific narrative techniques, presentational styles and production formats that news organizations use in order to succeed in the society-wide struggle for people's attention. These frames and formats influence the readers' or viewers' political worldviews. The logic of news making and policy making do not always coincide and sometimes openly clash. The project investigates whether the media content of political affairs today is more governed by a media logic or a political logic (serving the needs of political actors, institutions and democracy as a whole). In an analysis across several countries representing different types of western media systems, the project also assesses the extent to which political news coverage today is characterized by media logic.