The battle for media attention is an integral part of political conflicts. Because of structural bias in the news, government generally dominates this battle for media attention. This article argues, first, that the attention for government and parliament in the news reflects the power balance in the political system and, second, that this relation is moderated by cross-national differences in journalistic cultures, in particular the importance of conflict framing. Content analysis of newspaper and television coverage in Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain (N = 1,306 stories) shows that because of the universal news value of political power, attention for government and parliament reinforces differences of political power of these institutions, both within countries and cross-nationally. However, in pragmatic journalistic cultures, the dominance of government is weakened by journalists’ search for conflict. In countries where the news value of conflict is more important (Denmark and the United Kingdom), stories about government more often include oppositional voices than in countries where conflict is a less important news value (Spain).
AlexseevMikhail A.BennettW. Lance. 1995. “For Whom the Gates Open: News Reporting and Government Source Patterns in the United Kingdom, Great Britain, and Russia.” Political Communication12(4):395–412.
2.
AlthausScott L.2003. “When News Norms Collide, Follow the Lead: New Evidence for Press Independence.” Political Communication20:381–414.
3.
ArnoldR. Douglas2004. Congress, the Press, and Political Accountability. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
4.
BennettW. Lance. 1996. “An Introduction to Journalism Norms and Representations of Politics.” Political Communication13:373–84.
5.
BennettW. LanceReginaG. LawrenceLivingstoneSteven. 2007. When the Press Fails. Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
6.
BensonRodneyHallinDaniel C.2007. “How States, Markets and Globalization Shape the News; the French and US National Press, 1965-97.” European Journal of Communication22:27–48.
7.
BlumlerJay G.GurevitchMichael. 1995. The Crisis of Public Communication. London: Routledge.
8.
BudgeIan. 2008. “Great Britain and Ireland: Variations in Party Government.” In Comparative European Politics, ed. ColomerJosep M.3rd Edition.London: Routledge.
9.
ChalabyJean K.1996. “Journalism as an Anglo-American Invention. A Comparison of the Development of French and Anglo-American Journalism, 1830s-1920s.” European Journal of Communication, 11(3):303–26.
10.
ColomerJosep M.2008. “Spain and Portugal: Rule by Party Leadership.” In Comparative European Politics, ed. ColomerJosep M.3rd Edition.London: Routledge.
11.
CookTimothy E.1989. Making Laws and Making News: Media Strategy in the U.S. House of Representatives. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.
12.
CookTimothy E.2005. Governing with the News; The News Media as a Political Institution. 2nd Edition.Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
13.
De SwertKnutWalgraveStefaan. 2002. “De kanseliersbonus in de Vlaamse pers: een onderzoek naar regering en oppositie in drie Vlaamse kranten (1991-2000)” [The Incumbency Bonus in the Flemish Press: A Study of Government and Opposition in Three Flemish Newspapers (1991-2000)]. Tijdschrift Voor Sociologie23(3/4):371–403.
14.
De VreeseClaes H. (2005). “The spiral of cynicism reconsidered.” European Journal of Communication, 20(3):283–301.
15.
De VreeseClaes H.PeterJochenSemetkoHolli A.2001. “Framing politics at the launch of the Euro: a cross-national comparative study of frames in the news.” Political Communication18:107–22.
16.
EntmanRobert M.2007. “Framing Bias: Media in the Distribution of Power.” Journal of Communication57:163–73.
17.
EntmanRobert M.2010. “Media Framing Biases and Political Power: Explaining Slant in News of Campaign 2008.” Journalism11(4):389–408.
18.
EsserFrank2008. “Dimensions of Political News Culture: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom.” The International Journal of Press/Politics13:401–28.
19.
EsserFrankHemmerKatharina. 2008. “Characteristics and Dynamics of Election News Coverage in Germany.” In The Handbook of Election News Coverage Around the World, ed. StrömbäckJesperKaidLynda Lee. London: Routledge.
20.
GaltungJohanRugeMari. 1965. “The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers.” Journal of International Peace Research1:64–91.
21.
GulatiGirish J.JustMarion R.CriglerAnn N.2004. “News Coverage of Political Campaigns.” In Handbook of Political Communication Research, ed. KaidLynda Lee. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
GuntherRichardMonteroJosé R.|JoséW.Wert. 2000. “The Media and Politics in Spain: From Dictatorship to Democracy.” In Democracy and the media; a comparative perspective, ed. GuntherRichardMughanAnthony. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23.
HallinDanielManciniPaolo. 2004. Comparing Media Systems. Three Models of Media and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
24.
HanitzschThomas. 2007. “Deconstructing Journalism Culture: Towards a Universal Theory.” Communication Theory, 17:367–85.
25.
HoffstetterC. Richard. 1976. Bias in the News. Network Television Coverage of the 1972 Election Campaign. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
26.
HopkinJonathan. 2005. “Spain: Proportional Representation with Majoritarian Outcomes.” In The Politics of Electoral Systems, ed. GallagherMichaelMitchellPaul. New York: Oxford University Press.
27.
HopmannDavid Nicolasde VreeseClaes H.AlbækErik2011. “Incumbency bonus in election mews coverage explained: the logics of political power and the media market.” Journal of Communication, 61(2): 264-82.
28.
KellyMaryMazzoleniGianpietroMcQuailDenis. 2004. The Media in Europe; The Euromedia Handbook. 3rd Edition.London: SAGE.
29.
KepplingerHans Mathias. 2000. “The Declining Image of the German Political Elite.” International Journal of Press/Politics5(4):71–80.
30.
KleinnijenhuisJanOegemaDirkde RidderJan A.van HoofAnita M. J.VliegenthartRens. 2003. De puinhopen in het nieuws. [The ruins in the news]. Alphen aan den Rijn/Mechelen: Kluwer.
31.
LaneJan-ErikErssonSvante. 2008. “The Nordic Countries: Compromise and Corporatism in the Welfare State.” In Comparative European Politics, ed. ColomerJosep M.3rd Edition.London: Routledge.
32.
LawrenceRegina G.2000. “Game-Framing the Issues: Tracking the Strategy Frame in Public Policy News.” Political Communication, 17:93–114.
33.
LijphartArend. 1999. Patterns of Democracy; Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
34.
McQuailDenis. 2010. McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. 6th Edition.London: SAGE.
35.
MouffeChantal. 2005. On the Political. London: Taylor & Francis.
36.
NegrineRalph. 1998. Parliament and the Media; A Study of Britain, Germany and France. Chatham House, UK: The Royal Institute of International Affairs.
37.
ReeseStephen D.1991. “Setting the Media’s Agenda: A Power Balance Perspective.” Communication Yearbook14:309–40.
38.
RiffeDanielLacySephenFicoFrederick G.2005. Analyzing Media Messages; Using Quantitative Content Analysis in Research. 2nd Edition.London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
39.
SchattschneiderE. E.1960. The Semi-Sovereign People. Hinsdale, NJ: Dryden Press.
40.
SchmidtManfred G.2008. “Germany: The Grand Coalition State.” In Comparative European Politics, ed. ColomerJosep M.3rd Edition.London: Routledge.
41.
SchönbachKlausDe RidderJanLaufEdmund. 2001. “Politicians on TV News: Getting Attention in Dutch and German Election Campaigns.” European Journal of Political Research39:519–31.
42.
SchulzWinfriedZehReimar. 2005. “The Changing Election Coverage of German Television. A Content Analysis: 1990-2002.” Communications30:385–407.
43.
SellersPatrick J.SchaffnerBrian F.2007. “Winning Coverage in the U.S. Senate.” Political Communication24(4):377–91.
44.
SemetkoHolli A.BlumlerJay G.GurevitchMichaelWeaverDavid H.1991. The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Role in Recent American and British Elections. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
45.
SemetkoHolli A.CanelMaria J.1997. “Agenda-Sender versus Agenda-Setter: Television in Spain’s 1996 Election Campaign.” Political Communication14:459–79.
46.
SheaferTamirWolfsfeldGadi. 2009. “Party Systems and Oppositional Voices in the News Media; A Study of the Contest over Political Waves in the United States and Israel.” International Journal of Press/Politics14(2):146–65.
47.
ShehataAdam. 2010. “Marking Journalistic Independence: Official Dominance and the Rule of Product Substitution in Swedish Press Coverage.” European Journal of Communication25:123–37.
48.
ShugartMatthew S.1997. “Parties, Parliaments and Governments.” In The Politics of the New Europe. Atlantic to Urals, ed. BudgeI.NewtonK.London: Longman.
49.
SparrowBartholomew H.1999. Uncertain Guardians; The News Media as a Political Institution. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
50.
StrömbäckJesperLuengoÓscar G.2008. “Polarized Pluralist and Democratic Corporatist Models: A Comparison of Election News Coverage in Spain and Sweden.” International Communication Gazette70:547–62.
51.
StrömbäckJesperShehataAdam. 2007. “Structural Biases in British and Swedish Election News Coverage.” Journalism Studies8(5):798–812.
52.
TreschAnke. 2009. “Politicians in the Media: Determinants of Legislators’ Presence and Prominence in Swiss Newspapers.” International Journal of Press/Politics14(1):67–90.
53.
Van AelstPeterShehataAdamVan DalenArjen. 2010. “Members of Parliament: Equal Competitors for Media Attention? An Analysis of Personal Contacts between MPs and Political Journalists in Five European Countries.” Political Communication27(3):310–325.
54.
WoldendorpJaapKemanHansBudgeIan. 2000. Party Government in 48 Democracies (1945-1998): Composition–Duration–Personnel. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
55.
WolfsfeldGadi. 1997. Media and Political Conflict; News from the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
