Media Malaise and the Decline of Legitimacy

Bibliographic Data

ID23448525
AuthorsPeter Van Aelst (0000-0002-2548-0309, corresponding author)
Year2017
Publication date2017-08-24
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueMyth and Reality of the Legitimacy Crisis (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oso/9780198793717.003.0006
OpenAlexW4249302047
ISBN9780198793717
LanguageEN
Citations received4

This chapter analyzes media malaise theories and their consequences for legitimacy. These theories argue that the increasing availability of information through new and old media and increasingly negative tone of media are to blame for declining legitimacy. The chapter examines these claims by providing a systematic review of empirical research on media and political support. It first investigates whether news coverage has become more negative over time, and then examines the micro process that might explain the link between media coverage and political support. Empirical evidence suggests that where coverage has become more negative, this occurred before the 1990s and has levelled off since, and is concentrated primarily in election news. Negative political news does have a modest impact on political support once controlled for level of education, but that effect can be positive and negative, depending on the medium, the receiver, and the indicator of political support.

Blame · Economics · Empirical evidence · Epistemology · Legitimacy · Malaise · Negative information · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Tone (literature) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology