What Makes Political Messages Fit for Reporting? An Experimental Study of Journalistic News Selection

• In Event: The Role, Content, and Shaping of Political News in a New Media Environment

Abstract

Media coverage is crucial for political actors as it influences both voters and fellow politicians. However, only a fraction of political messages makes it into the news. Manipulating characteristics of the sender and the message within fictional press release we presented political journalists in the Netherlands (N=67) and Switzerland (N=84), allowed us to put influences of the individual journalist into perspective. We found that messages from parties with political power and those announcing more substantial political actions were more likely to be selected. News values such as unexpectedness and relevance had a significant influence, whereas negativity did not. In relation with characteristics of the sender and the message, the journalist actually making the selection only had a minor influence. These findings show that political considerations play a crucial role in news selection and that findings from content analyses cannot simply be transferred to the selection of political news.

Authors

• Luzia Helfer, Leiden U

• Peter Van Aelst, U of Antwerp