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ID: 121750

Across time and space: explaining variation in news coverage of the European Union / Boomgaarden, Hajo G; Vreese, Claes H De; Schuck, Andreas R T; Azrout, Rachid

Vreese, Claes H De	Journal Article
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2013.

Summary/Abstract

News about the European Union (EU) looks different in different countries at different points in time. This study investigates explanations for cross-national and over-time variation in news media coverage of EU affairs drawing on large-scale media content analyses of newspapers and television news in the EU-15 (1999), EU-25 (2004) and EU-27 (2009) in relation to European Parliament (EP) elections. The analyses focus in particular on explanatory factors pertaining to media characteristics and the political elites. Results show that national elites play an important role for the coverage of EU matters during EP election campaigns. The more strongly national parties are divided about the EU in combination with overall more negative positions towards the EU, the more visible the news. Also, increases in EU news visibility from one election to the next and the Europeanness of the news are determined by a country's elite positions. The findings are discussed in light of the EU's alleged communication deficit.

Key Words

Media ; European Union ; European Parliament Elections ; News Coverage ; Elite Conflict

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ID: 118529

Impact of information acquisition on EU performance judgements / Elenbaas, Matthijs; Vreese, Claes H De; Boomgaarden, Hajo G; Schuck, Andreas R T

Elenbaas, Matthijs	Journal Article
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Publication

2012.

Summary/Abstract

Public evaluations of EU performance are not only critical indicators of the EU's output legitimacy, but also shape future support for European integration. For citizens to monitor the political performance of the EU they need relevant facts, yet it is anything but clear that gains in information about EU performance cause change in judgements about such performance. Drawing on two-wave panel data, this article examines whether acquiring information following a real-world EU decision-making event alters citizens' judgements about the utilitarian and democratic performance of the EU. It also examines how this effect differs for people with different levels of general political information. It is found that citizens who acquired performance-relevant information became more approving of the EU's utilitarian performance but did not change their judgements about its democratic performance. Also, individuals with moderate levels of general political information were affected most strongly by new facts about performance. The implications of these findings for EU-level representative democracy are considered.

Key Words

European Union ; Public Opinion ; Political Information ; Political Performance

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