This article examines a topic that has been neglected in political communication research: mainstream news reporting of the “appointive state” in Britain. This perspective is vital in the light of state retrenchment and an expanded role for quangos (quasi-autonomous nongovernmental organizations). The analysis provides an overview of long-term trends in media reporting of general principles of quasi government and an examination of the routine coverage of public bodies that can be classified as quangos. These related exercises show that the “new managerialist” ethos that fueled the recent expansion of the appointive state finds little endorsement in general media discourses about the quango state but is often implicitly reflected in journalists' treatment of specific organizations and their work.
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