Abstract
This study develops a multi-method approach to analysing political information environments, exploring how media and political systems help shape people’s understanding of news. In doing so, we ask a question fundamental to democratic citizenship: how well do news media communicate political responsibility and policy differences across political systems? Our study examines the United Kingdom’s political information environment, where significant power is devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with different political parties in control. Drawing on a content analysis of 17,765 news items, a representative survey of 3272 respondents and 15 semi-structured interviews, we examine the dominant information sources about UK politics by longitudinally tracing coverage of devolved issues from 2007 to 2016, and gauging how well it was understood by television news viewers. Our results suggest that while BBC news is more sensitive to communicating the devolved relevance of news than more commercial outlets, there remains a democratic deficit in the supply of political information and audience understanding of where power and responsibility lies. If news coverage more regularly communicated the relevance and context of devolved issues, we argue it could open up democratic opportunities for citizens to consider a wider range of policy options debated in all four political institutions.
Highlights
This study develops a multi-method approach to analysing political information environments, exploring how media and political systems help shape people’s understanding of news
Email: CushionSA@cardiff.ac.uk communicated the relevance and context of devolved issues, we argue it could open up democratic opportunities for citizens to consider a wider range of policy options debated in all four political institutions
There has been less sustained academic engagement with how different political systems influence the information environment and affect the opportunities to learn about politics
Summary
This study develops a multi-method approach to analysing political information environments, exploring how media and political systems help shape people’s understanding of news. When storytelling ignores causes and consequences, it prevents viewers from learning about alternative political or policy ideas that may deliver different outcomes It is, possible for news reporting to compare and contrast policy options against the historical record or independent evidence – a form of public interest news that is the life-blood of representative democracy. Comparative studies have theorised how political dimensions can help shape national media systems (Cook, 1998), few empirical news studies focus on the complexities of understanding power and responsibility, especially in the many countries where that power is devolved and dispersed between local, regional and national governments (Cushion, 2012; Cushion et al, 2009, 2012; Dekavalla, 2012) This is important when power is devolved to different levels of government, but where those levels can be politically distinct. Despite being a fundamental part of democratic life, the Journalism 21(1)
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