Over-responsibilised and over-blamed

Elected actors in media reporting on network governance. A comparative analysis in eight European metropolitan areas

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7960375
AutoresKarin Hasler (University of Zurich), Daniel Kübler (0000-0001-7373-0926, University of Zurich), Anna Christmann (University of Zurich), Frank Marcinkowksi (University of Münster)
Año2016
Volumen44
Número1
Páginas135-152
Fecha de publicación2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPolicy & Politics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0305-5736 • E-ISSN: 1470-8442
EditorialBristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/030557315x14434668993301
OpenAlexW2554533544
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9

This article contributes to the study of democratic problems related to governance networks, by focusing on the role of the media. Two main rivalling hypotheses are examined. The functionalist hypothesis postulates that the media accurately inform the public about policy actors and their responsibilities, independent of these actors’ institutional status. The media-bias hypothesis postulates an attention bias towards elected policy actors, resulting in reduced public visibility of non-elected policy actors. The analysis uses standardised data on decision-making processes and newspaper content relating to public transport and economic promotion policies in eight western European metropolitan areas. Findings are that the actor mix of governance networks is quite accurately reflected in newspaper reporting. However, elected actors are more often presented as responsible for policies (‘over-responsibilised’), and they are more often blamed for policy failures than other actors (‘over-blamed’). The extent of this media bias depends on commercial pressure on media outlets. We also show that variations of this general pattern are linked to different types of media systems found across the cases under scrutiny

Business · Corporate governance · Geography · Metropolitan area · Newspaper · Political science · Promotion (chess · Public relations · Scrutiny · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Public Administration · Social Media and Politics