Publication
Title
Give the media what they need : negativity as a media access tool for politicians
Author
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that politicians’ negativity usage fails to enhance their approval ratings among the general public, yet politicians regularly use it. This begs the following question: why are politicians so negative if this strategy does not bolster their prospects for re-election? In this paper, I argue that the media, driven by audience engagement, plays a pivotal role in shaping politicians’ propensity for negativity. Specifically, politicians resort to negativity because it aligns with the media’s negativity bias, thereby increasing their chances of securing media access and public attention. I test this expectation on the less-likely case of Belgium, using data on politicians’ negativity usage in parliament and their presence in prime-time TV news (2010–2020). The results show that using negativity significantly increases politicians’ chances of gaining media access, particularly when using uncivil negativity. The more media access politicians start to attract due to negativity, the more they resort to negativity.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The international journal of press/politics. - Cambridge, Mass., 2008, currens
Publication
Cambridge, Mass. : 2024
ISSN
1940-1612 [print]
1940-1620 [online]
DOI
10.1177/19401612241234861
Volume/pages
(2024) , p. 1-25
Article Reference
19401612241234861
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Does the Battle Ever End? Negative Interaction between Political Actors outside of and during Campaigns.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Record
Identifier
Creation 04.03.2024
Last edited 05.03.2024
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