The mediatization of politics Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione

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