Download Political Communication

The mediatization of politics
Gianpietro Mazzoleni
La comunicazione politica
Chapter 3
What is mediatization?
• Centrality of the mass media in the (social and
political) communication
• The economic goals of the media shape the
political narratives
• Media as a branch of government (fourth
power)
Mediatization defined
The four dimensions of the mediatization of politics
The systemic effects of the
mediatization
• Media effects
– Spectacularization
– Agenda
– Fractionalization
• Political effects
– Personalization
– Leaderization
– Selection of political élites
Media effects
1 Spectacularization
• All politicians make use of media
• All politicians must follow the frames of the
mass communication
• They have also to activate the interest of the
media
Media effects
2 Agenda
• Agenda setting: citizens’ issue priority
• Agenda building: governments’ issue priority
Media effects
3 Fractionalization
• Sound bites
• Packaging politics
Political effects
1 Personalization
• Each politician is assessed as a single person
rather than as a partisan leader, due to
changes in communication
– Popularization
– Pervasiveness of the TV
– End of the ideology
Political effects
2 Leaderization
• A similar effect, named “leaderization”, is due
to
– Different kinds of democracy
– Electoral systems
• Plurality
• Preferential voting
• Direct election
– Vanishing of the mass parties
Political effects
3 Selection
• Candidates are increasingly selected according
to their media profile
– The winnowing effect occurring during the
presidential primaries in the United States is an
evident example
Mediatization and Internet
• Internet and the Web 2.0 are different from
classical media
– We could talk of an end of the mediatization due
to the direct relationship now practicable
between politicians and citizens
(disintermediation)
– Alternatively we could talk about a new form of
extended mediatization including old media and
Internet