Michael Brüggemann

Transnationalization of public spheres

List of Figures - List of Tables - Preface& Acknowledgements - List of Authors The Transnationalization of Public Spheres: Theoretic Considerations Analysing Europeanization: The Research Framework Segmented Europeanization Differential Europeanization: Explaining Vertical and Horizontal Europeanization in the Quality Press Towards a Pan-European Public Spheres? A typology of Transnational Media in Europe M.Brugggemann& H.Schulz-Forberg Together We Fight? Europes Debate over the Legitimacy of Military Interventions United in Protest? The European Struggle over Genetically Modified Food S.Schneider Conclusion Appendix 1: Additional Tables for Chapter 4 Appendix 2: Methodological Appendix Notes - References - Index

Segmented Europeanization: Exploring the Legitimacy of the European Union from a Public Discourse Perspective

The article presents the results of a longitudinal newspaper analysis on the Europeanization of public discourses in five EU countries. It shows that European governance is increasingly subject to public scrutiny, but neither has a common discourse in Europe developed nor has the communication lag of the EU disappeared. Therefore the EU remains largely dependent on domestic processes of legitimation.

`Let's Talk about Europe': Why Europeanization Shows a Different Face in Different Newspapers

■ This article contributes to the ongoing quest for a European public sphere understood as a structural transformation of national public debates. This process of Europeanization of national public spheres has a vertical and a horizontal dimension: an increased focus on the EU as well as more attention to other European countries. A content analysis of quality newspapers in five EU member states covering a period of 20 years reveals common trends across different countries but no convergence over time. Four different patterns of Europeanization can be identified: comprehensive Europeanization, segmented Europeanization, Europeanization aloof from the EU and a parochial public sphere. This article pushes research in this area ahead by identifying and testing factors that explain these differences in newspaper coverage. In-depth case analysis as well as regression analysis show that the editorial mission of a newspaper and the size of the member state it is situated in have a significant effect on patterns of Europeanization. Contrary to common expectations, the number of correspondents in Brussels and the degree of popular identification with Europe did not significantly affect patterns of Europeanization. ■

How the EU constructs the European public sphere : seven strategies of information policy

Abstract If there is no such thing as a European Public Sphere (EPS), why don’t we construct one? The answer seems to be obvious: There is no way one could construct a public sphere top-down since it depends on the active participation of speakers, the media and audience. In a democratic society they are free to deliberate with whom and about what they want. This article does not challenge the Habermasian notion of a public sphere evolving from the free discourse of the citizens. Nevertheless, the evolution of a public sphere is also structured by incentives and constraints imposed from above. The European Union structures the EPS - as a polity as well as through its policies and politics. While it is true that different policies such as media policy and all cultural policies matter for the public sphere, this paper concentrates on the Commission’s information policy as it constitutes the most direct link between the institution and the EPS. Seven different strategies of information policy will be presented which vary in their potential of creating or suppressing the evolution of a democratic public sphere. The extremes are marked by propaganda and arcane policy on the one hand and dialogue and transparency on the other hand. While the Commission pursued arcane policies for a long time, its approach to information has changed during the last decade. A change of paradigm might be under way but the legacy of European policy without “Offentlichkeit” constraints all attempts at pursuing more democratic information policies aimed at strengthening the public sphere.

Becoming Pan-European? Transnational Media and the European Public Sphere

/ Research about the European public sphere has so far mainly focused on the analysis of national media, neglecting a dimension of transnational communication, namely transnational media. These media could serve as horizontal links between the still nationally segmented public spheres and they could be platforms of a transnational European discourse. Four ideal-types of transnational media can be distinguished: (1) national media with a transnational mission , (2) international media, (3) pan-regional media and (4) global media. Within this framework the article analyses transnational media in Europe, showing that a multitude of transnational media have developed in Europe. They have acquired a small but growing and influential audience. Whether transnational media fulfil the normative demands related to the concept of a transnational public sphere remains an open question as some of these media heavily depend on government subsidies and there is a clear lack of research on the European discourses represented in these media.

Between Consensus and Denial Climate Journalists as Interpretive Community

This study focuses on climate journalists as key mediators between science and the public sphere. It surveys journalists from five countries and five types of leading news outlets. Despite their different contexts, journalists form an interpretive community sharing the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change and agreeing on how to handle climate change skeptics. This consensus is particularly strong among a core of prolific writers while climate change skepticism persists among a periphery of occasional writers. The journalists’ attitudes toward climate change are connected to their usage of sources, indicating that interpretive communities include journalists and scientists.

THE STRATEGIC REPERTOIRE OF PUBLISHERS IN THE MEDIA CRISIS

Germany could be considered a deviant case in the comparative study of the current transformations in media markets as publishers continue to be profitable despite painting a gloomy picture of the possibility of there being a “media crisis.” What is specific about the German case is the strong economic position and political lobbying of the publisher associations. Combining different sources of primary and secondary data, this article investigates five strategies of crisis management (“the five Cs”): media companies may react to the current changes by cutting down costs and creating new products. They may further try to influence the general framework conditions by complaining about their plight in public (discursive strategy), taking competitors to court (legal strategy) and wooing politicians through lobbying and campaigning (political strategy). The article concludes that the sustainable provision of journalistic value benefits the most from creative, productive strategies.

Explaining cosmopolitan coverage

Research on international news flows has mostly aimed to explain why certain countries and regions are more reported on than others. There are few studies, however, on the reasons why some media outlets cover foreign affairs more intensively than others. This article thus extends our current knowledge by mapping different degrees of cosmopolitan coverage and identifying key conditions that help to explain these differences. Analysing foreign reporting and transnational debate in 12 newspapers from six European countries the study then employs FsQCA as the method for identifying the best ‘recipes’ – defined as the most relevant constellations of conditions for explaining cosmopolitan coverage. These causal recipes combine conditions at the level of the media outlet and conditions related to the country where the respective outlet is situated.

Information Policy and the Public Sphere

Abstract Taking EU communications as a case study this article deals with the relationship between communication activities of public authorities and the public sphere. Traditional theories of the public sphere regard government communications as an unwelcome intervention that distorts free and open debates. This article argues that public relations activities of governments should be analysed as being part of the implementation of an information policy that also comprises citizen’s rights of access to documents and information. Whether information policy distorts or supports free deliberation is an empirical question that is answered by looking at the information policy of the European Commission since the year 2000. In response to the challenge of communicating Europe to largely disinterested audiences, the European Commission has reformed its communications in order to foster a European public sphere through enhancing the transparency of European governance and starting a dialogue with the citizens. The study shows that the EU fails on its promise of dialogue and that transparency could still be improved. The information policy of the Commission aims at normatively acceptable goals while using ineffective means. Information policy does not turn out to be propagandistic but ineffective. Focussing on media relations could make PR more effective in reaching out to the wider public. If journalism functions as its necessary corrective and citizens are empowered through strong rights of access to information, than information policy could contribute to a vivid transnational public sphere.

Framing the Newspaper Crisis: How debates on the state of the press are shaped in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and United States

This article argues that discourses of a newspaper “crisis” should not be regarded simply as descriptions of the actual state of the press but also as a means by which strategic actors frame the situation. The emerging frames can have substantial consequences for media policy making. The study identifies four key frames used to portray the newspaper “crisis” and discusses their relevance for public debates in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. Similarities and differences are examined through 59 in-depth interviews with policymakers and industry executives as well as a qualitative analysis of policy documents and relevant media coverage. The study demonstrates that debates on the newspaper “crisis” are only partly influenced by (1) economic realities and (2) media policy traditions in the six countries but also reflect (3) the strategic motives of powerful actors and (4) the diffusion of frames across borders, particularly those coming from the United States. A transnationally uniform paradigm emerges according to which the state is expected to play the role of a benevolent but mostly passive bystander, while media companies are expected to tackle the problem mainly by developing innovative content and business strategies. This liberal market paradigm displays one blind spot however: it does not seriously consider a scenario where the market is failing to provide sustainable journalistic quality.