Party media agenda-setting How parties influence election news coverage

• Published in: Party politics Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 173 - 191
• Main Authors: Hopmann, David N., Elmelund-Præstekær, Christian, Albæk, Erik, Vliegenthart, Rens, Vreese, Claes H. de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.03.2012; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Content analysis; Denmark; Elections; Electoral campaigning; Generalizability; Mass media; Media; Media coverage; National elections; News media; Opinion; Party systems; Political campaigns; Political parties; Press releases; Denmark; election campaigns; agenda-setting; news coverage; agenda-building; content analysis
• ISSN: 1354-0688; 1460-3683
• DOI: 10.1177/1354068810380097

Political parties have substantial influence on which issues the news media cover during election campaigns, while the media have limited influence on party agendas. However, we know little about why some parties are more successful than others in passing the media’s gates and being covered on sponsored issues. On the basis of content analyses of election news coverage (812 news stories) and press releases published by political parties (N = 334) during the 2007 national election campaign in Denmark, we analyse which parties were successful in appearing in the news on issues on which they published press releases. Using Sartori’s notion of relevant parties, we conclude that the more relevant parties have more success, that there is a positive spillover effect from other parties’ press releases, but also a negative interaction effect between a party’s own and other parties’ press releases. The results are discussed with respect to their generalizability and arising challenges for future research.