Publication
Title
The whole world is watching : comparing European and United States news coverage of the US 2008 and 2016 elections
Author
Abstract
United States presidential election campaigns provide a unique opportunity to study how media in different countries cover the same "international" event. Although campaign research is flourishing, it is unclear to what extent U.S. and European media cover campaigns differently. Therefore, this study analyzes how the U.S. press covered both the 2008 and 2016 campaigns in comparison with the press in 6 West European countries. We analyze 2 central characteristics of campaign coverage: (1) the tone or degree of negativity and (2) the substantial nature of the coverage. Our results confirm that substantial issue coverage is low, and a negative view of candidates and the campaign is prevailing. Although there is variation in the coverage within and between the countries under study, structural differences between the press in the U.S. and Europe are almost absent. In line with the idea of media convergence, this suggests that we can no longer distinguish the campaign coverage of U.S. and European newspapers. We argue that shared news values and the specific context of campaigns determine news coverage across the board.
Language
English
Source (journal)
International journal of communication. - -
Publication
2018
ISSN
1932-8036
Volume/pages
12 (2018) , p. 4731-4753
ISI
000457602100168
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 01.03.2019
Last edited 24.11.2024
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