Table Of ContentThe Mediated Politics of Europe
A Comparative Study of Discourse
Edited by Mats Ekström
and Julie Firmstone
The Mediated Politics of Europe
Mats Ekström · Julie Firmstone
Editors
The Mediated Politics
of Europe
A Comparative Study of Discourse
Editors
Mats Ekström Julie Firmstone
Department of Journalism, School of Media and Communication
Media and Communication University of Leeds
University of Gothenburg Leeds, UK
Gothenburg, Sweden
ISBN 978-3-319-56628-3 ISBN 978-3-319-56629-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-56629-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944708
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A
cknowledgements
This book and the collaborative project which led to it was made pos-
sible by the dedication of all those involved to the idea of creating an
interdisciplinary qualitative study of political communication in broad-
casting. The work was funded only by the employment of those involved
by their institutions (and the goodwill of several of the retired contribu-
tors), and evolved from several discussions between scholars associated
with the Ross Priory Broadcast Talk Group (http://wp.sunderland.
ac.uk/rosspriorybroadcasttalk/) and political communications at the
University of Leeds. Having started collaborating in 2014, it was dur-
ing a meeting hosted by Stephen Coleman at the School of Media and
Communication in Leeds in summer 2015 that we became so enthused
about what the initial findings suggested about the potential of the col-
laboration that we committed to producing this book.
We would like to thank everyone who worked on the study for not
only writing their own chapters but also for providing data about their
own country case to other authors and in commenting on each other’s
analyses to ensure correct interpretations of the five country cases in the
study—thank you Stephen Coleman, John Corner, Louann Haarman,
Andrew Morton, Marianna Patrona, Joanna Thornborrow and Andrew
Tolson. It goes without saying that without such a supportive working
relationship the rigour and success of the cross-national comparisons that
we have achieved would not have been possible. Just as important has
been everyone’s commitment to the collaboration, their unwavering will-
ingness to stick to the sometimes very tight deadlines, and collegiality
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
in the intellectual creation of the study—all of this has made editing
the book a pleasure. Thanks also to colleagues who provided insightful
feedback when some of us presented our analyses to the ‘Discourse in
Europe’ conference held by Hellenic American University, and to the
Ross Priory Broadcast seminar, both in Athens in September 2016. We
are also grateful to the anonymous reviewer of the book proposal and
final manuscript for helpful suggestions. Finally, the book would not
have come to fruition without the support of Heloise Harding and
Martina O’Sullivan at Palgrave Macmillan.
c
ontents
Part I Introduction
1 Introduction: A Discourse Analytical Approach to
Researching Mediated Political Communication 3
Mats Ekström and Julie Firmstone
Part II Context
2 A Tale of Two Narratives 39
Stephen Coleman
3 Mediated Constructions of Crisis 59
Marianna Patrona and Joanna Thornborrow
Part III Journalistic Practices
4 Genre and Cultural Style in TV News Coverage of the
European Elections 2014 91
Joanna Thornborrow and Louann Haarman
vii
viii CONTENTS
5 Political Interviews: Pushing the Boundaries of
‘Neutralism’ 123
Mats Ekström and Andrew Tolson
6 Different Views of Europe in TV News Reports 151
Andrew Tolson and Joanna Thornborrow
Part IV Citizens
7 Reporting the ‘Public’–Discourses of Interpretation,
Evaluation and Prediction 175
Julie Firmstone and John Corner
8 Citizens Talking Politics in the News: Opinions, Attitudes
and (Dis)Engagement 201
Mats Ekström and Andrew Tolson
9 On the Broadcast Spectrum of Citizen Participation:
Citizen Talk in the Audience Discussion Genre 229
Marianna Patrona
Part V Politicians
10 The Performances of Mainstream Politicians:
Politics as Usual? 259
Stephen Coleman and Julie Firmstone
11 The Performances of Right-Wing Populism: Populist
Discourse‚ Embodied Styles and Forms of News
Reporting 289
Mats Ekström and Andrew Morton
CONTENTS ix
Part VI Conclusion
12 Conclusion: Tensions and Disruptions in
Mediated Politics 319
Mats Ekström and Julie Firmstone
Index 339
e c
ditors And ontributors
About the Editors
Mats Ekström is Professor of Media and Communication at the
University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research is mainly focused
on media discourse, journalism, political communication and young
people’s civic engagement. Recent publications include, Media Talk
and Political Elections in Europe and America (with Tolson, Palgrave
2013); ‘Negotiating politicians’ responsibilities in news interviews’ (with
Djerf-Pierre, Johansson and Håkansson, Journalism Practice 2016);
‘Social media, porous boundaries and the development of online politi-
cal engagement among young citizens’ (with Adam Shehata, New Media
and Society 2016).
Julie Firmstone is Associate Professor of Media and Communication at
the University of Leeds, UK. Her research addresses a range of issues
in the fields of the sociology of news and political communication. She
analyses news, journalism and political communication with a focus on
local democracy and the communication of European politics. Recent
publications include ‘Mapping Changes in Local News’ (Journalism
Practice 2016); ‘Public engagement in local government: the voice and
influence of citizens in online communicative spaces’ (with Stephen
Coleman Information, Communication and Society 2015); ‘Newspapers’
editorial opinions during the referendum campaign’ (in EU Referendum
xi
