Negativity in the News: Exploring the Drivers of “Bad News” - Tendencies in 16 Media Systems

• In Event: Comparative Political Communication

Abstract

A comparative content analysis of 7797 political news stories from 16 countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Nor-way, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States), sampled in a three month period in 2012, are coded for four indicators of negativity: overall story tone, conflict-centeredness, allegation of incapability and actor-related negativity. To explain cross-national variation in negativity levels, ten assumed causal factors (located at the level of systems, sectors and sto-ries) are investigated. The study finds that negativity is highest in media systems with strong competition and limited resources (or appreciation) for producing in-depth news. At the sector level it is mainly the offline variants of privately-owned outlets, and at the story level inter-pretative commentary on negatively connoted topics that increase the likelihood of covering political affairs in negative terms.

Authors

• Frank Esser, U of Zurich

• Sven Engesser, U of Zurich

• Jorg Matthes, U of Vienna

• Rosa Berganza, U Rey Juan Carlos