Public and Elite Perceptions of News Media in Politics

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the research on individual’s perceptions about and attitudes toward the news media. It discusses research on trust in media, hostile media perceptions, and perceptions of media influence, also known as third person perceptions. All three perceptions are shaped by both cognitive and self-enhancement mechanisms and all have important political consequences. The chapter argues that perceptions about the news media among the elite have largely been ignored by scholars but are consequential in shaping the political world. When politicians perceive that media are powerful, they react by initiating coverage and cooperating with the requests of journalists. When a certain issue is expected to receive substantial media attention, politicians react by initiating legislation or discussion about that topic. Thus, politicians’ perceptions of media the may be at the heart of a decades-long process of mediatization of politics.