Unravelling a Cognitive Map: How Politicians’ Views of Journalists and the News Media Affect Their Satisfaction with Democracy

• In Event: Advancements in Political Journalism Research

Abstract

The study developed and tested a cognitive model designed to analyze correlations among media- and democracy-related cognitions of N = 422 European politicians. The key assumptions were, first, that politicians’ perceptions of journalists’ roles—whether the role is one of political advocate or neutral informant—were consequential in (i) the way politicians perceive the media’s influence in the political process, and (ii) the media’s democratic performance. Second, it was hypothesized that politicians’ attitudes toward the media’s democratic performance was important in determining how satisfied they are with the functioning of democracy. Altogether, eight hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. The analysis revealed a strong influence of journalistic role perceptions on media-related attitudes as well as a strong effect of these attitudes on politicians’ satisfaction with democracy. An important finding is that negative evaluations concerning the media’s democratic performance can undermine politicians’ support for the political system.

Author

• Peter Maurer, NTNU Trondheim