Who Gets into the Papers? Party Campaign Messages and the Media

Parties and politicians want their messages to generate media coverage and thereby reach voters. This article examines how attributes related to content and sender affect whether party messages are likely to get media attention. Based on content analyses of 1,613 party press releases and 6,512 media...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of political science 2020-01, Vol.50 (1), p.281-302
Main Authors: Meyer, Thomas M., Haselmayer, Martin, Wagner, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agenda setting
Attention
Campaigns
Communication
Competition
Content analysis
Elections
Fairness
Gatekeeping
Immigration
Mass media
Media coverage
News
News media
Political advertising
Political communication
Political opposition
Political parties
Political representation
Political science
Politicians
Success
Voters
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Summary:Parties and politicians want their messages to generate media coverage and thereby reach voters. This article examines how attributes related to content and sender affect whether party messages are likely to get media attention. Based on content analyses of 1,613 party press releases and 6,512 media reports in a parliamentary, multiparty context, we suggest that party messages are more likely to make it into the news if they address concerns that are already important to the media or other parties. Discussing these issues may particularly help opposition parties and lower-profile politicians get media attention. These results confirm the importance of agenda setting and gatekeeping, shed light on the potential success of party strategies, and have implications for political fairness and representation.
ISSN:0007-1234
1469-2112
DOI:10.1017/S0007123417000400