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Frank Esser

University of Zurich, Switzerland, Department of Communication and Media Research, Faculty Member

University of Zurich, Switzerland, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, Faculty Member

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Frank is Full Professor at the University of Zurich and part-time adjunct professor at the University of Oslo. Please check out his website at https://goo.gl/gLkbTM
Address: Frank Esser
University of Zurich, IPMZ
Andreas St 15
8050 Zurich, Switzerland
http://abv8.me/3sv

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Books by Frank Esser

De Vreese, Esser & Hopmann (2016). Comparing Political Journalism. London: Routledge.

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism Practice, 8(3).

The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissi... more The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissions to a Call for Papers by Guest Editors Jesper Strömbäck and Frank Esser. It led, after a rigorous double-blind peer-review selection process, to the publication of a double-volume, with six articles appearing in Journalism Studies (Vol. 15-3) and the other six in Journalism Practice (Vol. 8-3). Although both special issues address the overarching question of how political affairs coverage of the news media has changed under the conditions of mediatization, and which implications this may have for the audience, they take separate yet supplementary perspectives. This is why we have given the first special issue the title “Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” (Journalism Studies), and the second one the title “Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic” (Journalism Practice).

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism Studies, 15(3).

The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissi... more The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissions to a Call for Papers by Guest Editors Jesper Strömbäck and Frank Esser. It led, after a rigorous double-blind peer-review selection process, to the publication of a double-volume, with six articles appearing in Journalism Studies (Vol. 15-3) and the other six in Journalism Practice (Vol. 8-3). Although both special issues address the overarching question of how political affairs coverage of the news media has changed under the conditions of mediatization, and which implications this may have for the audience, they take separate yet supplementary perspectives. This is why we have given the first special issue the title “Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” (Journalism Studies), and the second one the title “Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic” (Journalism Practice).

Esser, F., & Strömbäck, J. (2014). Mediatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social... more This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social, cultural, economic and political prerequisites, empirically existing varieties, and the two major challenges – globalization and mediatization – confronting established democracies today. As the boundaries of the national political communities increasingly dissolve, democracy as we know it is put into question. Similarly, as the role of the media in politics increases, the way established democracies function is being transformed. Two chapters by Frank Esser discuss the tension between media logic and political, and offer a conceptualization of the mediatization concept. They further offer a an overview of recent Research in Zurich on mediatization effects on political news, political actors, political decisions and political audiences.

Nielsen, R. K., Esser, F., & Levy, D. (2013). Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Business of Journalism and Its Implications for Democracy. Guest-edited special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(4).

This special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics is dedicated to international c... more This special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics is dedicated to international comparative research on the changing character of commercial news media in democracies around the world at the beginning of the 21st century, and what these changes in turn mean for democratic politics. The motivation is our view that cross-country analysis is necessary to understand both the causes and consequences of current changes, and that mass media and mass politics remain so tightly intertwined that changes in one will have consequences for the other.

Kriesi, H., Lavanex, S., Esser, F. Matthes, J., Bühlmann, M., & Bochsler, D. (2013). Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social... more This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social, cultural, economic and political prerequisites, empirically existing varieties, and the two major challenges – globalization and mediatization – confronting established democracies today. As the boundaries of the national political communities increasingly dissolve, democracy as we know it is put into question. Similarly, as the role of the media in politics increases, the way established democracies function is being transformed. The book covers the transformation of established democracies, democracy's global expansion into new countries, as well as its spread into supranational polities such as the European Union. It confronts head on democracy's constantly changing nature; its diversity of institutions and practices; its repeated need to respond to exogenous challenges and, most importantly, its perpetually unsatisfactory quest to make 'real-existing democracy' conform better to 'potentially ideal democracy.'

Esser, F., Strömbäck, J., & de Vreese, C. H. (2012). Studying Political News: Towards a Standardization of Core Concepts. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism, 13(2).

Before conclusive judgments can be made, we require solid knowledge of media content and news per... more Before conclusive judgments can be made, we require solid knowledge of media content and news performance. Unfortunately much existing scholarly research on news performance suffers from a lack of conceptual clarity and comparability. This presentation will summarize existing efforts to analyze news content in ways that is comparable across cultures and facilitates cumulative science. Using six concepts that feature prominently in Western discussions of news performance – negativity, bias/diversity, hard/soft news, game/strategy, interpretative journalism, personalization – we will make practical suggestions as to how a more standardized approach to operationalizing and measuring them will improve generalizability of future content analyses.

Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2012). Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge.

The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding ... more The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research.

Esser, F., & Pfetsch, B. (2004). Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press.

This volume assesses comparative political communication research and considers potential ways in... more This volume assesses comparative political communication research and considers potential ways in which it could and should develop. Twenty experts from Europe and the United States offer a unique and comprehensive discussion of the theories, cases, and challenges of comparative research in political communication. The first part discusses the fundamental themes, concepts and methods essential to analyze the effects of modernization and globalization of political communication. The second part offers a broad range of case studies that illustrate the enormous potential of cross-national approaches in many relevant fields of political communication. The third part paves the way for future research by describing the most promising concepts and pressing challenges of comparative political communication. This book is intended to introduce new students to a crucial, dynamic field as well as deepening advanced students' knowledge of its principles and perspectives.

Populism & Pol Comm by Frank Esser

Blassnig, S., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2020). Populism and Social Media Popularity. How Populist Communication Benefits Political Leaders on Facebook and Twitter. In D. Taras & R. Davis (Eds.), Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media New York: Routledge, 97-111.

Research has shown that social media is a particularly well-suited channel for distributing popul... more Research has shown that social media is a particularly well-suited channel for distributing populist messages. However, it has hardly been explored what type of audience reactions populist communication triggers on social media and whether populist political leaders garner more support online than political leaders who do not represent populist views or communicate in a populist way. In this chapter, we address these open questions. We define populist communication, review recent research on populist online communication, and describe what we learned when we analyzed the tweets and Facebook posts of 36 diverse political leaders in six countries over a three-month period.

Esser, F. (2019). Welche Rolle spielen die Medien bei der Verbreitung von Populismus? In J. Allmendinger, O. Jarren, C. Kaufmann, H. Kriesi, & D. Kübler (Eds.), Zeitenwende: Kurze Antworten auf große Fragen der Gegenwart. Zürich: Orell Füssli, 161-170.

Das Kapitel beantwortet die folgenden Fragen: Warum reden wir über Populismus? Verstehen wir den ... more Das Kapitel beantwortet die folgenden Fragen: Warum reden wir über Populismus? Verstehen wir den heutigen Populismus besser, wenn wir die Rolle der Medien berücksichtigen? Gewähren europäische Nachrichtenmedien den Populisten eine kritiklose Bühne? Neigen Nachrichtenmedien selber zu populistischer Kommunikation? Wie reagieren Populisten auf kritische Medienberichterstattung? Haben Social Media eine besondere Affinität zu populistischer Kommunikation? Wie kann der Journalismus reagieren?

Blassnig, S., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2019). Hitting a Nerve: Populist News Articles Lead to More Frequent and More Populist Reader Comments. Political Communication, 36(4), 629-651.

Although research on effects of populist communication has increased, it is still unclear how pop... more Although research on effects of populist communication has increased, it is still unclear how populism in news articles affects the readers' manifest behavior, such as whether and how they comment on online news. To address these issues, we conducted a content analysis of online news articles (N = 332) and corresponding reader comments (N = 2786) during election campaigns in France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. We find that populist key messages by political and media actors in news articles do not only provoke more reader comments but also prompt citizens to use populist key messages themselves in their commentsregardless of how journalists contextualize these statements.

Blassnig, S., Rodi, P., … & Esser, F. (2019). Dimensions, Speakers, and Targets: Basic Patterns in European Media Reporting on Populism. In C. Reinemann et al. (Eds.), Communicating Populism. Comparing Actor Perceptions, Media Coverage, and Effects on Citizens in Europe. London: Routledge, 71-101.

Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., … & Engesser, S. (2019). Event-, Politics-, and Audience-Driven News: A Two-Year Comparison of Populism in European Media Coverage. In C. Reinemann, J. Stanyer, T. Aalberg, F. Esser, & C. H. de Vreese (Eds.), Communicating Populism. London: Routledge, 123-140.

Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., Seddone, A., Papathanassopoulos, S., Peicheva, D., Milojev... more Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., Seddone, A., Papathanassopoulos, S., Peicheva, D., Milojevic, A., Blassnig, S., & Engesser, S. (2019). Event-, Politics-, and Audience-Driven News: A Two-Year Comparison of Populism in European Media Coverage. In C. Reinemann, J. Stanyer, T. Aalberg, F. Esser, & C. H. de Vreese (Eds.), Communicating Populism. Comparing Actor Perceptions, Media Coverage, and Effects on Citizens in Europe. London: Routledge, 123-140

Ernst, N., Blassnig, S., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., & Esser, F. (2019). Populists Prefer Social Media over Talk Shows. An Analysis of Populist Messages and Styles across Six Countries. Social Media + Society, online first, DOI: 10.1177/2056305118823358.

Ernst, N., Esser, F., Blassnig, S., & Engesser, S. (2018). Favorable Opportunity Structures for Populist Communication: Comparing Types of Politicians, Issues, and Media. International Journal of Press/Politics, online first, DOI: 10.1177/1940161218819430.

The aim of this study is to explore favorable opportunity structures for populist communication o... more The aim of this study is to explore favorable opportunity structures for populist communication of politicians in Western democracies. We analyze the content and style of 2,517 statements from 103 politicians from six countries (France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States) who differ in their party affiliation (populist versus nonpopulist) and hierarchical position (backbencher vs. frontbencher). To learn more about their media strategies and chances of success, we investigate four communication channels (Facebook, Twitter, talk shows, and news media) that systematically differ in their degree of journalistic intervention and examine fourteen often-raised topics that differ in their suitability for populist mobilization. Our content analysis shows the highest probability of populist communication comes from (1) members of populist parties and (2) backbenchers who address (3) mobilizable issues in (4) social media or newspaper articles. We conclude by explaining why populists have become so successful in getting their messages into newspapers.

Wettstein, M., Esser, F., Schulz, A., Wirz, D., & Wirth, W. (2018). News Media as Gatekeepers, Critics and Initiators of Populist Communication: How Journalists in Ten Countries Deal with the Populist Challenge. International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(4), 476–49.

by Frank Esser and Dominique Wirz

In the wake of the recent successes of populist political actors and discussions about its causes... more In the wake of the recent successes of populist political actors and discussions about its causes in Europe, the contribution of the media has become an issue of public debate. We identify three roles-as gatekeepers, interpreters, and initiators-the media can assume in their coverage of populist actors, populist ideology, and populist communication. A comparative content analysis of nine thousand stories from fifty-nine news outlets in ten European countries shows that both media factors (e.g., tabloid orientation) and political factors (e.g., response of mainstream parties) influence the extent and nature of populism in the media. Although newspapers in most countries do not overrepresent populist actors and tend to evaluate them negatively, we still find abundant populist content in the news. Several media outlets like to present themselves as mouthpieces of the people while, at the same time, cover politicians and parties with antiinstitutional undertones.

Wettstein, M., Esser, F., Büchel., F., Schemer, C., Wirz, D., Schulz, A., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., Müller, P., Wirth, W. (2018). What Drives Populist Styles? Analyzing Immigration and Labor Market News in 11 Countries. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, DOI: 10.1177/1077699018805408.

The success of populist political actors in Western democracies and the dramatization and emotion... more The success of populist political actors in Western democracies and the dramatization and emotionality of political communication in news media have been the object of several theoretical and empirical studies in the past decade. It has been argued that the mediatization of politics and the convergence of populist and tabloid communication styles foster these developments by mutual promotion in mass communication. This article uses a cross-national quantitative content analysis to disentangle associations among news genres, populist actors, content, and style. In spite of indisputable prevalence of populist styles in tabloid style media, populist ideology is identified as their strongest source.

Ernst, N., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., Blassnig, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Extreme Parties and Populism: An Analysis of Facebook and Twitter across Six Countries. Information, Communication & Society, 20(9), 1347–1364.

Parties are adapting to the new digital environment in many ways; however, the precise relations ... more Parties are adapting to the new digital environment in many ways; however, the precise relations between populist communication and social media are still hardly considered. This study compares populist communication strategies on Twitter and Facebook employed by a broad spectrum of left-wing, center, and rightwing political actors in six Western democracies. We conduct a semi-automated content analysis of politicians' social media statements (N = 1400) and find that populism manifests itself in a fragmented form and is mostly used by political actors at the extremes of the political spectrum (both right-wing and left-wing), by opposition parties, and on Facebook.

Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Bipolar Populism? The Use of Anti-Elitism and People-Centrism by Swiss Parties on Social Media. Swiss Political Science Review, 23(3), 253-261.

De Vreese, Esser & Hopmann (2016). Comparing Political Journalism. London: Routledge.

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism Practice, 8(3).

The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissi... more The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissions to a Call for Papers by Guest Editors Jesper Strömbäck and Frank Esser. It led, after a rigorous double-blind peer-review selection process, to the publication of a double-volume, with six articles appearing in Journalism Studies (Vol. 15-3) and the other six in Journalism Practice (Vol. 8-3). Although both special issues address the overarching question of how political affairs coverage of the news media has changed under the conditions of mediatization, and which implications this may have for the audience, they take separate yet supplementary perspectives. This is why we have given the first special issue the title “Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” (Journalism Studies), and the second one the title “Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic” (Journalism Practice).

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism Studies, 15(3).

The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissi... more The great interest in the mediatization of politics was reflected in an unprecedented 84 submissions to a Call for Papers by Guest Editors Jesper Strömbäck and Frank Esser. It led, after a rigorous double-blind peer-review selection process, to the publication of a double-volume, with six articles appearing in Journalism Studies (Vol. 15-3) and the other six in Journalism Practice (Vol. 8-3). Although both special issues address the overarching question of how political affairs coverage of the news media has changed under the conditions of mediatization, and which implications this may have for the audience, they take separate yet supplementary perspectives. This is why we have given the first special issue the title “Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” (Journalism Studies), and the second one the title “Mediatization of Politics: Facets of Media Logic” (Journalism Practice).

Esser, F., & Strömbäck, J. (2014). Mediatization of Politics. Understanding the Transformation of Western Democracies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social... more This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social, cultural, economic and political prerequisites, empirically existing varieties, and the two major challenges – globalization and mediatization – confronting established democracies today. As the boundaries of the national political communities increasingly dissolve, democracy as we know it is put into question. Similarly, as the role of the media in politics increases, the way established democracies function is being transformed. Two chapters by Frank Esser discuss the tension between media logic and political, and offer a conceptualization of the mediatization concept. They further offer a an overview of recent Research in Zurich on mediatization effects on political news, political actors, political decisions and political audiences.

Nielsen, R. K., Esser, F., & Levy, D. (2013). Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Business of Journalism and Its Implications for Democracy. Guest-edited special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(4).

This special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics is dedicated to international c... more This special issue of the International Journal of Press/Politics is dedicated to international comparative research on the changing character of commercial news media in democracies around the world at the beginning of the 21st century, and what these changes in turn mean for democratic politics. The motivation is our view that cross-country analysis is necessary to understand both the causes and consequences of current changes, and that mass media and mass politics remain so tightly intertwined that changes in one will have consequences for the other.

Kriesi, H., Lavanex, S., Esser, F. Matthes, J., Bühlmann, M., & Bochsler, D. (2013). Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social... more This book provides a comprehensive overview over the models of contemporary democracy, its social, cultural, economic and political prerequisites, empirically existing varieties, and the two major challenges – globalization and mediatization – confronting established democracies today. As the boundaries of the national political communities increasingly dissolve, democracy as we know it is put into question. Similarly, as the role of the media in politics increases, the way established democracies function is being transformed. The book covers the transformation of established democracies, democracy's global expansion into new countries, as well as its spread into supranational polities such as the European Union. It confronts head on democracy's constantly changing nature; its diversity of institutions and practices; its repeated need to respond to exogenous challenges and, most importantly, its perpetually unsatisfactory quest to make 'real-existing democracy' conform better to 'potentially ideal democracy.'

Esser, F., Strömbäck, J., & de Vreese, C. H. (2012). Studying Political News: Towards a Standardization of Core Concepts. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism, 13(2).

Before conclusive judgments can be made, we require solid knowledge of media content and news per... more Before conclusive judgments can be made, we require solid knowledge of media content and news performance. Unfortunately much existing scholarly research on news performance suffers from a lack of conceptual clarity and comparability. This presentation will summarize existing efforts to analyze news content in ways that is comparable across cultures and facilitates cumulative science. Using six concepts that feature prominently in Western discussions of news performance – negativity, bias/diversity, hard/soft news, game/strategy, interpretative journalism, personalization – we will make practical suggestions as to how a more standardized approach to operationalizing and measuring them will improve generalizability of future content analyses.

Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2012). Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge.

The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding ... more The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research.

Esser, F., & Pfetsch, B. (2004). Comparing Political Communication: Theories, Cases, and Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press.

This volume assesses comparative political communication research and considers potential ways in... more This volume assesses comparative political communication research and considers potential ways in which it could and should develop. Twenty experts from Europe and the United States offer a unique and comprehensive discussion of the theories, cases, and challenges of comparative research in political communication. The first part discusses the fundamental themes, concepts and methods essential to analyze the effects of modernization and globalization of political communication. The second part offers a broad range of case studies that illustrate the enormous potential of cross-national approaches in many relevant fields of political communication. The third part paves the way for future research by describing the most promising concepts and pressing challenges of comparative political communication. This book is intended to introduce new students to a crucial, dynamic field as well as deepening advanced students' knowledge of its principles and perspectives.

Blassnig, S., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2020). Populism and Social Media Popularity. How Populist Communication Benefits Political Leaders on Facebook and Twitter. In D. Taras & R. Davis (Eds.), Power Shift? Political Leadership and Social Media New York: Routledge, 97-111.

Research has shown that social media is a particularly well-suited channel for distributing popul... more Research has shown that social media is a particularly well-suited channel for distributing populist messages. However, it has hardly been explored what type of audience reactions populist communication triggers on social media and whether populist political leaders garner more support online than political leaders who do not represent populist views or communicate in a populist way. In this chapter, we address these open questions. We define populist communication, review recent research on populist online communication, and describe what we learned when we analyzed the tweets and Facebook posts of 36 diverse political leaders in six countries over a three-month period.

Esser, F. (2019). Welche Rolle spielen die Medien bei der Verbreitung von Populismus? In J. Allmendinger, O. Jarren, C. Kaufmann, H. Kriesi, & D. Kübler (Eds.), Zeitenwende: Kurze Antworten auf große Fragen der Gegenwart. Zürich: Orell Füssli, 161-170.

Das Kapitel beantwortet die folgenden Fragen: Warum reden wir über Populismus? Verstehen wir den ... more Das Kapitel beantwortet die folgenden Fragen: Warum reden wir über Populismus? Verstehen wir den heutigen Populismus besser, wenn wir die Rolle der Medien berücksichtigen? Gewähren europäische Nachrichtenmedien den Populisten eine kritiklose Bühne? Neigen Nachrichtenmedien selber zu populistischer Kommunikation? Wie reagieren Populisten auf kritische Medienberichterstattung? Haben Social Media eine besondere Affinität zu populistischer Kommunikation? Wie kann der Journalismus reagieren?

Blassnig, S., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2019). Hitting a Nerve: Populist News Articles Lead to More Frequent and More Populist Reader Comments. Political Communication, 36(4), 629-651.

Although research on effects of populist communication has increased, it is still unclear how pop... more Although research on effects of populist communication has increased, it is still unclear how populism in news articles affects the readers' manifest behavior, such as whether and how they comment on online news. To address these issues, we conducted a content analysis of online news articles (N = 332) and corresponding reader comments (N = 2786) during election campaigns in France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. We find that populist key messages by political and media actors in news articles do not only provoke more reader comments but also prompt citizens to use populist key messages themselves in their commentsregardless of how journalists contextualize these statements.

Blassnig, S., Rodi, P., … & Esser, F. (2019). Dimensions, Speakers, and Targets: Basic Patterns in European Media Reporting on Populism. In C. Reinemann et al. (Eds.), Communicating Populism. Comparing Actor Perceptions, Media Coverage, and Effects on Citizens in Europe. London: Routledge, 71-101.

Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., … & Engesser, S. (2019). Event-, Politics-, and Audience-Driven News: A Two-Year Comparison of Populism in European Media Coverage. In C. Reinemann, J. Stanyer, T. Aalberg, F. Esser, & C. H. de Vreese (Eds.), Communicating Populism. London: Routledge, 123-140.

Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., Seddone, A., Papathanassopoulos, S., Peicheva, D., Milojev... more Esser, F., Stępińska, A., Pekacek, O., Seddone, A., Papathanassopoulos, S., Peicheva, D., Milojevic, A., Blassnig, S., & Engesser, S. (2019). Event-, Politics-, and Audience-Driven News: A Two-Year Comparison of Populism in European Media Coverage. In C. Reinemann, J. Stanyer, T. Aalberg, F. Esser, & C. H. de Vreese (Eds.), Communicating Populism. Comparing Actor Perceptions, Media Coverage, and Effects on Citizens in Europe. London: Routledge, 123-140

Ernst, N., Blassnig, S., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., & Esser, F. (2019). Populists Prefer Social Media over Talk Shows. An Analysis of Populist Messages and Styles across Six Countries. Social Media + Society, online first, DOI: 10.1177/2056305118823358.

Ernst, N., Esser, F., Blassnig, S., & Engesser, S. (2018). Favorable Opportunity Structures for Populist Communication: Comparing Types of Politicians, Issues, and Media. International Journal of Press/Politics, online first, DOI: 10.1177/1940161218819430.

The aim of this study is to explore favorable opportunity structures for populist communication o... more The aim of this study is to explore favorable opportunity structures for populist communication of politicians in Western democracies. We analyze the content and style of 2,517 statements from 103 politicians from six countries (France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States) who differ in their party affiliation (populist versus nonpopulist) and hierarchical position (backbencher vs. frontbencher). To learn more about their media strategies and chances of success, we investigate four communication channels (Facebook, Twitter, talk shows, and news media) that systematically differ in their degree of journalistic intervention and examine fourteen often-raised topics that differ in their suitability for populist mobilization. Our content analysis shows the highest probability of populist communication comes from (1) members of populist parties and (2) backbenchers who address (3) mobilizable issues in (4) social media or newspaper articles. We conclude by explaining why populists have become so successful in getting their messages into newspapers.

Wettstein, M., Esser, F., Schulz, A., Wirz, D., & Wirth, W. (2018). News Media as Gatekeepers, Critics and Initiators of Populist Communication: How Journalists in Ten Countries Deal with the Populist Challenge. International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(4), 476–49.

by Frank Esser and Dominique Wirz

In the wake of the recent successes of populist political actors and discussions about its causes... more In the wake of the recent successes of populist political actors and discussions about its causes in Europe, the contribution of the media has become an issue of public debate. We identify three roles-as gatekeepers, interpreters, and initiators-the media can assume in their coverage of populist actors, populist ideology, and populist communication. A comparative content analysis of nine thousand stories from fifty-nine news outlets in ten European countries shows that both media factors (e.g., tabloid orientation) and political factors (e.g., response of mainstream parties) influence the extent and nature of populism in the media. Although newspapers in most countries do not overrepresent populist actors and tend to evaluate them negatively, we still find abundant populist content in the news. Several media outlets like to present themselves as mouthpieces of the people while, at the same time, cover politicians and parties with antiinstitutional undertones.

Wettstein, M., Esser, F., Büchel., F., Schemer, C., Wirz, D., Schulz, A., Ernst, N., Engesser, S., Müller, P., Wirth, W. (2018). What Drives Populist Styles? Analyzing Immigration and Labor Market News in 11 Countries. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, DOI: 10.1177/1077699018805408.

The success of populist political actors in Western democracies and the dramatization and emotion... more The success of populist political actors in Western democracies and the dramatization and emotionality of political communication in news media have been the object of several theoretical and empirical studies in the past decade. It has been argued that the mediatization of politics and the convergence of populist and tabloid communication styles foster these developments by mutual promotion in mass communication. This article uses a cross-national quantitative content analysis to disentangle associations among news genres, populist actors, content, and style. In spite of indisputable prevalence of populist styles in tabloid style media, populist ideology is identified as their strongest source.

Ernst, N., Engesser, S., Büchel, F., Blassnig, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Extreme Parties and Populism: An Analysis of Facebook and Twitter across Six Countries. Information, Communication & Society, 20(9), 1347–1364.

Parties are adapting to the new digital environment in many ways; however, the precise relations ... more Parties are adapting to the new digital environment in many ways; however, the precise relations between populist communication and social media are still hardly considered. This study compares populist communication strategies on Twitter and Facebook employed by a broad spectrum of left-wing, center, and rightwing political actors in six Western democracies. We conduct a semi-automated content analysis of politicians' social media statements (N = 1400) and find that populism manifests itself in a fragmented form and is mostly used by political actors at the extremes of the political spectrum (both right-wing and left-wing), by opposition parties, and on Facebook.

Ernst, N., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Bipolar Populism? The Use of Anti-Elitism and People-Centrism by Swiss Parties on Social Media. Swiss Political Science Review, 23(3), 253-261.

Engesser, S., Ernst, N., Esser, F., & Büchel, F. (2017). Populism and Social Media: How Politicians Spread a Fragmented Ideology. Information, Communication and Society, 20(8), 1109–1126.

Populism is a relevant but contested concept in political communication research. It has been wel... more Populism is a relevant but contested concept in political communication research. It has been well-researched in political manifestos and the mass media. The present study focuses on another part of the hybrid media system and explores how politicians in four countries (AT, CH, IT, UK) use Facebook and Twitter for populist purposes. Five key elements of populism are derived from the literature: emphasizing the sovereignty of the people, advocating for the people, attacking the elite, ostracizing others, and invoking the 'heartland'. A qualitative text analysis reveals that populism manifests itself in a fragmented form on social media. Populist statements can be found across countries, parties, and politicians' status levels. While a broad range of politicians advocate for the people, attacks on the economic elite are preferred by left-wing populists. Attacks on the media elite and ostracism of others, however, are predominantly conducted by right-wing speakers. Overall, the paper provides an in-depth analysis of populism on social media. It shows that social media give the populist actors the freedom to articulate their ideology and spread their messages. The paper also contributes to a refined conceptualization and measurement of populism in future studies.

De Vreese, C., Esser, F., Aalberg, T., Reinemann, C., & Stanyer, J. (2018). Populism as an expression of political communication content and style: A new perspective. International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(4), 423–438.

In this article, the introduction to a special International Journal of Press/Politics (IJPP) iss... more In this article, the introduction to a special International Journal of Press/Politics (IJPP) issue on populism, we articulate and define populism as a communication phenomenon. We provide an overview of populist political communication research and its current foci. We offer a framework for ongoing research and set the boundary conditions for a new generation of research on populist political communication, with an aim to push the research agendas and design toward a more interactive, systematic, and in particular, comparative approach to the study of populist political communication.

Blassnig, S., Engesser, S., Ernst., N., & Esser, F. (2018). Populism in Online Election Coverage: Analyzing populist statements by politicians, journalists and readers in three countries. Journalism Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2018.1487802.

This article investigates the extent to which populist key messages are distributed via online ne... more This article investigates the extent to which populist key messages are distributed via online news articles and reader comments, as well as how media actors, political actors, and readers employ populist online communication during election periods. Populism is defined as a thin ideology, and four dimensions of populist communication are distinguished: people-centrism, anti-elitism, popular sovereignty, and exclusion. We analyze online news articles and reader comments during election campaigns in France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. We find that comment sections are more populist than online news articles and that the majority of populist key messages in online news articles originate from politicians, not from journalists. However, we further show that compared with straight news items, opinion-oriented stories are more prone to conveying populist key messages from media actors, whereas straight news favors populism by political actors. Finally, we investigate how online news media moderate populist key messages disseminated by political actors.

Frank Esser & Barbara Pfetsch (2020). Comparing Political Communication: A 2020 Update.

For the fifth edition of Caramani’s textbook Comparative Politics (OUP, 2020), we have fundamenta... more For the fifth edition of Caramani’s textbook Comparative Politics (OUP, 2020), we have fundamentally revised our chapter from the previous edition and updated it in the light of the latest literature. We describe the emergence of hybrid ecosystems of political communication in model form and propose them as macro-units for comparative research. On the basis of this model, we provide a systematic overview of the scholarly literature on comparative political communication research.

Esser, F. (2019). Advances in Comparative Political Communication Research through Contextualization and Cumulation of Evidence. Political Communication, 36(4), 680-686.

The recent demand to strongly contextualize findings of political communication research (Rojas ... more The recent demand to strongly contextualize findings of political communication research (Rojas & Valenzuela, 2019) should be welcomed. Such a call is pushing at an already open door, particularly with scholars engaged in comparative research. Comparative research is essentially about context; it is context-sensitive in the way that it aims to understand how the contextual environment shapes individual-level political communication phenomena (Blumler, McLeod & Rosengren, 1992 ).Not only are individual-level processes better understood through the consideration of contextual factors but the significance of macro-level characteristics only becomes visible when different national political communication arrangements are compared with each other.

Esser, F. (2019). Comparative International Studies of Election Campaign Communication: What Should Happen Next? Journalism, DOI: 10.1177/1464884919845450.

The article not only identifies important achievements of comparative international research of e... more The article not only identifies important achievements of comparative international research of election campaign communication but also highlights their challenges. Focusing in particular on content analyses, the article finds that comparative studies examine either the messages of the news media (and here, so far, only the reporting of traditional media is considered) or the messages of the candidates (here, their social media channels are preferentially studied). The combination of both, meaning election studies that are devoted to the interplay of traditional and new channels in an international comparison, are extremely rare and should be intensified. It is encouraging that our knowledge of campaign reporting in a country-by-country comparison has increased in recent years because content analyses have increasingly concentrated on an established set of relevant reporting features-as this articles illustrates with many examples. However, more collaborative, internationally linked comparative scholarship is needed, even if the demands placed on researchers further increase as a result. Setting the scene Research into election communication is getting more international. However, it is still in a process of development and maturation, although the situation has improved

Esser, F., & Vliegenthart, R. (2017). Comparative Research Methods. In J. Matthes, C. S. Davis & R. Potter (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (pp. 248-269). London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Esser, F., & Vliegenthart, R. (2017). Comparative Research Methods. In J. Matthes, C. S. Davis & R. Potter (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (pp. 248-269). London: Wiley-Blackwell.

Esser, F. (2016). Komparative Kommunikationswissenschaft: Ein Feld formiert sich. Studies in Communication Sciences, 16(1), 54–60.

Der Beitrag wirft einen Blick zurück auf die bisherige Literatur zur komparativen Kommunikationsw... more Der Beitrag wirft einen Blick zurück auf die bisherige Literatur zur komparativen Kommunikationswissenschaft und versucht zu eruieren, an welchem Punkt der Entwicklung wir mit der SGKM-Jahrestagung 2015 angekommen sind. Dabei stellen sich eine Reihe von Fragen, auf die der Beitrag eigene Einschätzungen anbietet. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch erkennbar, wie es um die Berücksichtigung der Schweiz in der vergleichenden Kommunikations-und Medienwissenschaft bestellt ist. Der Beitrag schliesst mit einem Ausblick, wie sich die komparative Forschung zu einer selbstverständlichen Subdisziplin der Kommunikationswissenschaft entwickeln könnte.

Esser, F. (2015). Comparative Political Communication Research: The Undiminished Relevance of the Beginnings. In S. Coleman, G. Moss, & K. Parry (Eds.), Can the Media Serve Democracy? Essays in Honour of Jay G. Blumler. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 44-52.

Esser, F., & Vliegenthart, R. (2016). Comparative Research Methods. In J. Matthes, R. Potter & C. S. Davis (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods. London: Wiley-Blackwell.

In this paper, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of comparative research.

Esser, F. (2016). Komparative Kommunikationswissenschaft: Ein Feld formiert sich. Studies in Communication Sciences, 16(1), 54–60.

Kommunikationswissenschaft internationaler Vergleich z u s a m m e n f a s s u n g Der Beitrag wi... more Kommunikationswissenschaft internationaler Vergleich z u s a m m e n f a s s u n g Der Beitrag wirft einen Blick zurück auf die bisherige Literatur zur komparativen Kommunikationswissenschaft und versucht zu eruieren, an welchem Punkt der Entwicklung wir mit der SGKM-Jahrestagung 2015 angekommen sind. Dabei stellen sich eine Reihe von Fragen, auf die der Beitrag eigene Einschätzungen anbietet. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch erkennbar, wie es um die Berücksichtigung der Schweiz in der vergleichenden Kommunikations-und Medienwissenschaft bestellt ist. Der Beitrag schliesst mit einem Ausblick, wie sich die komparative Forschung zu einer selbstverständlichen Subdisziplin der Kommunikationswissenschaft entwickeln könnte.

Esser, F. (2016). Journalismustheorie und komparative Forschung. In Martin Löffelholz & Liane Rothenberger (Eds.), Handbuch Journalismustheorien. Wiesbaden: Springer VS Verlag, 111-130.

Der Beitrag bietet eine Definition der komparativen Journalismusforschung, erklärt ihre spezifisc... more Der Beitrag bietet eine Definition der komparativen Journalismusforschung, erklärt ihre spezifische Forschungslogik, verteidigt sie gegen die Herausforderungen der Globalisierung und schildert ihren Bezug zu theoretischen und methodischen Festlegungen. Im zweiten Teil bietet er einen Überblick über relevante Studien und ihre Kernbefunde. Demnach lassen sich im internationalen Vergleich weiterhin verschiedene professionelle Kulturen unterscheiden, die durch Prozesse der Globalisierung, Europäisierung und Online-Orientierung keineswegs eingeebnet wurden. Sowohl über die Charakteristika als auch die Triebkräfte dieser verschiedenen Journalismen herrscht zunehmend Klarheit. Der Beitrag schließt mit einer Einschätzung zukünftiger Forschungsperspektiven.

Esser, F. (2014). Methodological Challenges in Comparative Communication Research: Advancing Cross-National Research in Times of Globalization. In M. J. Canel & K. Voltmer (Eds.), Comparing Political Communication Across Time and Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 15-30.

Pfetsch, B., & Esser, F. (2014). Political Communication in Comparative Perspective: Key Concepts and New Insights. In C. Reinemann (Ed.), Political Communication. Berlin: de Gruyter, 87-105.

In this chapter we set out to discuss the state of the art in comparative political communication... more In this chapter we set out to discuss the state of the art in comparative political communication research with respect to three objectives: In the first section we highlight the progress of comparative research, starting as a rather simple sub-discipline of communication that focused narrowly on country studies to a field of research which broadened its scope to a global level. Now, it aspires knowledge about social prerequisites and political consequences of communication that go beyond a single country, region or field of communication. In the second part of this chapter we dig deeper into approaches to theorize and measure political communication beyond the nation state and national publics (like political communication system or political information environment). Thus, we propose more meaningful frameworks for comparing political communication phenomena than the seemingly outdated country category. Finally, we demonstrate the substantial progress that has been made by applying new concepts, complex designs and sophisticated measures in comparative political communication research. Applications and examples include election campaigning, the interaction between media actors and political actors, and the impact of the Internet on democracy. We conclude by summarizing core advances and identifying promising areas of future scholarship.

Esser, F. (2013). The Emerging Paradigm of Comparative Communication Enquiry: Advancing Cross-National Research in Times of Globalization. International Journal of Communication, 7, 113–128

Cross-national communication research has advanced significantly in recent times, and those engag... more Cross-national communication research has advanced significantly in recent times, and those engaging in comparative analysis are committed to developing it further theoretically and methodologically. It is ironic, however, that at just the point when the communication discipline is gaining a better understanding of comparative analysis, the process of transnationalization seems to undermine its underlying rationale. This chapter, one the one hand, argues that transnationalization can only adequately be examined with comparative designs and, on the other hand, makes several suggestions as to how traditional comparative designs must be amended to account for new conceptual challenges. With these necessary extensions, the comparative approach will continue to contribute substantially to the progression of knowledge in the communication discipline.

Nielsen, R. K., Esser, F., & Levy, D. (2013). Comparative Perspectives on the Changing Business of Journalism and Its Implications for Democracy. International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(4), 383-391.

The last decade has seen tremendous change in the commercial news media that play a central role ... more The last decade has seen tremendous change in the commercial news media that play a central role in political processes in democracies around the world, as well as considerable progress in cross-national comparative media research. But despite the impact of Daniel C. Hallin and Paolo Mancini's book Comparing Media Systems, empirical research into the institutional and systemic preconditions of journalism and news production has not kept pace with the rapid changes in the media, nor with the advances made in other areas of comparative media research (such as studies of news media use, journalists' role-conceptions, and of news content). In this piece, we call for further institutionally and system-oriented mixed-methods comparative research to advance our understanding of how current changes are impacting journalism, the news media, and ultimately politics in different settings. We suggest that existing conceptions of media systems as ideal types need to be supplemented with more empirically grounded and systematically comparative understanding of media systems as dynamic, evolving real types to capture how journalism is changing today.

Esser, F., de Vreese, C., Strömbäck, J. van Aelst, P., Aalberg, T., Stanyer, J., Lengauer, G., Berganza, and others (2012). Political Information Opportunities in Europe: A Longitudinal and Comparative Study of 13 Television Systems. International Journal of Press/Politics, 17(3). 247-274

This study examines the supply of political information programming across 13 European broadcast ... more This study examines the supply of political information programming across 13 European broadcast systems over three decades. The cross-national and cross-temporal design traces the composition and development of political information environments with regard to the amount and placement of news and current affairs programs on the largest public and private television channels. It finds that the televisual information environments of Israel and Norway offer the most advantageous opportunity structure for informed citizenship due to their high levels of air-time and a diverse scheduling strategy. The study contributes to political communication research by establishing “political information environments” as a theoretically and empirically grounded concept that informs and supplements the comparison of “media systems”. If developed further it could provide an information-rich, easy-to-measure macro-unit for future comparative research.

Esser, F. & Hanitzsch, T. (Eds.) (2012a). Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge.

The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding ... more The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the general approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research.

Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2012b). On the Why and How of Comparative Inquiry in Communication Studies. In F. Esser & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge, 3-22.

This introductory chapter takes stock of the differential state of comparative communication rese... more This introductory chapter takes stock of the differential state of comparative communication research and comes to the conclusion that has it made remarkable progress across the field. The chapter argues that the comparative approach provides a valuable tool for advancing our understanding of communication processes, and that it opens up new avenues of systematic research. It first provides a rationale for why we need comparative work and then moves on to discuss conventional and new definitions of comparative research. After tracing historical developments, the chapter elaborates on common theoretical and methodological approaches, discusses objects of comparative analyses and outlines the structure of the book.

Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2012c). Organizing Cross-National Comparative Communication Projects: Forms and Challenges of Coordinated Collaboration. In I. Volkmer (Ed.), The Handbook of Global Media Research. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 521-532.

The chapter addresses the question of how to organize and manage collaborative international com... more

Esser, F., & Strömbäck, J. (2012a). Comparing Election Campaign Communication. In F. Esser & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge, 289-307.

While there is extensive research on political campaign communication, including the professional... more While there is extensive research on political campaign communication, including the professionalization of political campaigning and the use of different campaign and marketing techniques, research in this area is dominated by single-shot case studies of individual countries. At the same time, political campaigning and campaign communication take on different forms in different contexts. Against this background, this chapter analyzes how the campaign practices and strategies of candidates and parties are connected to their contextual environments; how cross-national differences can be explained by factors related to the political system, media system, political culture and media culture; and suggests a model for comparing election campaign communication.

Esser, F., & Strömbäck, J. (2012b). Comparing News on National Elections. In F. Esser & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. London: Routledge, 308-326.

How the media cover national election campaigns is both an important and popular object of study.... more How the media cover national election campaigns is both an important and popular object of study. While most research is still focused on singular countries, comparative research has become more common. A comprehensive framework for both investigating and explaining the media coverage of national election campaigns is however largely missing from the literature. This chapter reviews the most important independent and dependent variables as well as the most prominent frameworks used in comparative research on national election news coverage, and seeks to advance research in this area by outlining a theory-based, multilevel framework for investigating and comparing national election news coverage across political and media systems.

Schmuck, D., Heiss, R., Matthes, J., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2017). Antecedents of Strategic Game Framing in Political News Coverage. Journalism, DOI: 10.1177/1464884916648098.

The use of strategic game framing is predominant in mainstream news reporting of politics. Nevert... more The use of strategic game framing is predominant in mainstream news reporting of politics. Nevertheless, systematic research on the specific antecedents of strategic game framing-especially in non-electoral periods-is scarce. Against this background, this quantitative content analysis of print, TV and online news investigates the antecedents of strategic game framing in a non-electoral context in two Western European countries-Austria and Switzerland. The study focuses on media type, online versus offline editions, and content-related variables as antecedents of the media's framing of political news. Findings reveal that the highly competitive online environment, opinionated story types and issues focusing on the functioning of democracy fuel the use of the strategic game frame in political news coverage in non-electoral times. Furthermore, the results indicate

Humprecht, E., & Esser, F. (2018). Diversity in Online News: On the Importance of Ownership Types and Media System Types. Journalism Studies, 19(12), 1825-1847.

This paper examines diversity in online news with special attention paid to the role of different... more This paper examines diversity in online news with special attention paid to the role of different types of media ownership (meso level) and media systems (macro level). After identifying relevant perspectives and operationalizations of diversity, and discussing the economic implications of ownership and market conditions for diversity, the study tests four hypotheses with a content analysis of 1660 stories from 48 news sites in six countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland). Findings show that online news attains the highest levels of diversity (measured with three different indices) in national environments with strong public service media, and that even in the internet age, public broadcasters add considerably to the diversity of political news. The much discussed category of made-for-Web outlets (including the Huffington Post and Rue89) revealed considerable variety in ownership and escape simple explanations with regard to diversity.

Humprecht, E., & Esser, F. (2017). A Glass Ceiling in the Online Age? Explaining the Underrepresentation of Women in Online Political News. European Journal of Communication, 32(5) 439–456.

In previous decades, women in Western countries have gained more influence in various social real... more In previous decades, women in Western countries have gained more influence in various social realms. The percentage of females in higher education, the workforce, boards at publicly traded companies and national parliaments has increased. However, substantial underrepresentation of women in political news has remained. To explain the reasons behind this gender imbalance in news content, we conducted a content analysis of different types of online news in six Western countries. In our study, we distinguish among three levels of analysis: (1) the story level (frequency and format), (2) the media organization level (popular vs mass and upmarket outlets) and (3) the societal level. The results indicate that female actors are most frequently covered by popular news outlets and are more likely to be depicted in a photograph. Furthermore, strong determinants of continued gender differences in political news were found at the country level. Specifically, coverage increases in countries where gender equality is progressing in major parts of society.

Humprecht, E., & Esser, F. (2018). Mapping Digital Journalism: Comparing 48 News Websites from Six Countries. Journalism, 19(4), 500-518.

Media organizations throughout the Western world struggle to adjust their practices to rapidly ch... more Media organizations throughout the Western world struggle to adjust their practices to rapidly changing conditions. Initially, online journalism was celebrated for potentially revolutionizing political reporting due to its new technological possibilities: According to this, it is able to (1) increase transparency by providing hyperlink sources, (2) increase understanding by providing further background information, and (3) add to deliberation and follow-up communication by providing a platform for interactive exchange. A comparative content analysis of 48 news websites from six countries (France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, and United States) examines the degree to which these three potential strengths are fully exploited. By mapping the different news outlets in relation to the digital functions, we identify three models prevalent in different countries and organization types. The first model contains outlets promoting the usage of links to make their sources transparent to the reader ('transparency model'), outlets focusing on the provision of background information to enable their audiences to gain a wider understanding of the reported topic ('background model'), and outlets that mainly avoid the adoption of new technologies ('print-oriented model'). These findings show that different structural developments and professional orientations lead to the adaption of different technologies in digital journalism.

Curran, J., Esser, F., Hallin, D.C., Hayashi, K., & Lee, C. C. (2017). International News and Global Integration: A Five Nation Reappraisal. Journalism Studies, 18(2), 118-134.

by Frank Esser, Chin-Chuan Lee, and Dan Hallin

This study challenges the ruling orthodoxy that foreign news tends to be reported in divergent wa... more This study challenges the ruling orthodoxy that foreign news tends to be reported in divergent ways, reflecting the interests and identity of the home nation. Instead it concludes that the Greek and US elections in 2012 were reported in very similar ways in the leading news media of five countries located in different continents. In the case of the 2012 Chinese election, there were striking affinities in the news reporting of four out of five countries. Powerful forces that make for global conformity include the dominance of a small number of international news agencies, the emergence of a transnational journalistic culture, the hegemony of market liberal thought, the legacy of the Cold War, and the shared perspectives of allied states.

Curran, J., Esser, F., Hallin, D.C., Hayashi, K., & Lee, C. C. (2016). International News and Global Integration: A Five Nation Reappraisal. Journalism Studies, Vol. 17, online first, DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2015.1050056

This study challenges the ruling orthodoxy that foreign news tends to be reported in divergent wa... more This study challenges the ruling orthodoxy that foreign news tends to be reported in divergent ways, reflecting the interests and identity of the home nation. Instead it concludes that the Greek and US elections in 2012 were reported in very similar ways in the leading news media of five countries located in different continents. In the case of the 2012 Chinese election, there were striking affinities in the news reporting of four out of five countries. Powerful forces that make for global conformity include the dominance of a small number of international news agencies, the emergence of a transnational journalistic culture, the hegemony of market liberal thought, the legacy of the Cold War, and the shared perspectives of allied states.

Schmuck, D., Heiss, R., Matthes, J., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. (2016). Antecedents of Strategic Game Framing in Political News Coverage. Journalism, DOI: 10.1177/1464884916648098

The use of strategic game framing is predominant in mainstream news reporting of politics. Nevert... more The use of strategic game framing is predominant in mainstream news reporting of politics. Nevertheless, systematic research on the specific antecedents of strategic game framing – especially in non-electoral periods – is scarce. Against this background, this quantitative content analysis of print, TV and online news investigates the antecedents of strategic game framing in a non-electoral context in two Western European countries – Austria and Switzerland. The study focuses on media type, online versus offline editions, and content-related variables as antecedents of the media's framing of political news. Findings reveal that the highly competitive online environment, opinionated story types and issues focusing on the functioning of democracy fuel the use of the strategic game frame in political news coverage in non-electoral times. Furthermore, the results indicate

Humprecht, E., & Esser, F. (2016). Mapping Digital Journalism: Comparing 48 News Websites from Six Countries. Journalism, online first, doi:10.1177/1464884916667872

Media organizations throughout the Western world struggle to adjust their practices to rapidly ch... more Media organizations throughout the Western world struggle to adjust their practices to rapidly changing conditions. Initially, online journalism was celebrated for potentially revolutionizing political reporting due to its new technological possibilities: According to this, it is able to (1) increase transparency by providing hyperlink sources, (2) increase understanding by providing further background information, and (3) add to deliberation and follow-up communication by providing a platform for interactive exchange. A comparative content analysis of 48 news websites from six countries (France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, and United States) examines the degree to which these three potential strengths are fully exploited. By mapping the different news outlets in relation to the digital functions, we identify three models prevalent in different countries and organization types. The first model contains outlets promoting the usage of links to make their sources transparent to the reader ('transparency model'), outlets focusing on the provision of background information to enable their audiences to gain a wider understanding of the reported topic ('background model'), and outlets that mainly avoid the adoption of new technologies ('print-oriented model'). These findings show that different structural developments and professional orientations lead to the adaption of different technologies in digital journalism.

Umbricht, A., & Esser, F. (2015). The Push to Popularize Politics: Understanding the Audience-Friendly Packaging of Political News in Six Media Systems since the 1960s. Journalism Studies, Vol. 16, accepted.

This study offers a five-item based measurement of popularization of news (combining sensationali... more This study offers a five-item based measurement of popularization of news (combining sensationalism, scandalization, emotionalization, ordinary citizen approach and privatization of public figures) to examine a core assumption in the comparative literature, namely the convergence in Western journalism toward the Liberal Model. A content analysis of more than 6000 stories from 18 news outlets (regional, national and weekly papers) in six press systems (United States, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy) stretching five decades (1960s to 2010s) finds an increase but no convergence in the popularization of political news. Factors located at the national and the organizational levels correspond in characteristic ways with differences in the use of popularization-related strategies. With the growing need to offer additional attractions to oversaturated consumers, further increases in popularized political news are to be expected in the future but only according to specific conditions.

KEYWORDS comparative media research; content analysis; convergence; emotionalization; political news; popularization index; scandalization; sensationalism

Engesser, S., Esser, F., Reinemann, C., Scherr, S., Matthes, J., & Wonneberger, A. (2014). Negativität in der Politikberichterstattung: Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz im Vergleich. Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 62(4), 588-605.

Negativität ist ein zentrales Konzept in der Forschung zur politischen Kommunikation, doch hinsic... more Negativität ist ein zentrales Konzept in der Forschung zur politischen Kommunikation, doch hinsichtlich Konzeptualisierung und Operationalisierung besteht weitgehend Uneinigkeit. Auch beruhen viele Befunde auf der Analyse von Spezialzeiten wie dem Wahlkampf. Der vorliegende Beitrag zerlegt Negativität in die vier zentralen Dimensionen
Tonalität, Konflikt, Untauglichkeit und Unvorteilhaftigkeit und untersucht die Politikberichterstattung von Leitmedien gezielt in den Routineperioden zwischen Wahlkämpfen. Er zieht Vergleiche zwischen drei deutschsprachigen Ländern (Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz), Online- und Offline-Angeboten, vier Mediengattungen (öffentlicher und privatwirtschaftlicher Rundfunk, Qualitäts- und Boulevardzeitungen) sowie verschiedenen Darstellungsformen und Themen. Es zeigt sich, dass Medien in Österreich,
online und in meinungsbetonten Darstellungsformen negativer über Politik berichten als in ihren Vergleichsgruppen. Schweizerische Medien bringen mehr positiv gehaltene Beiträge und stellen politische Akteure seltener unvorteilhaft dar. Außerdem offenbart sich entgegen den gängigen Erwartungen, dass die Boulevardpresse unter allen Mediengattungen am wenigsten negativ schreibt.

Sülflow, M., & Esser, F. (2014). Visuelle Gestaltungsmittel in der Wahlkampfberichterstattung amerikanischer und deutscher Fernsehnachrichten: Der Einsatz von Kameraperspektiven und Einstellungsgrössen. Studies in Communication / Media, 3(1), 101-119.

Thirty years have passed since Hans-Mathias Kepplinger’s research on „Visual Bias“ and only littl... more Thirty years have passed since Hans-Mathias Kepplinger’s research on „Visual Bias“ and only little has been published on the use and influence of camera angles and shot lengths since. Based on a content analysis of 158 news stories of two US-American and German television channels aired during national election campaigns in 2008 and 2009 respectively, this study examines the visual representation of political actors. Results indicate that rather negative connoted camera angles and wider shot lengths dominate the newscasts in US-American news coverage. In Germany, a greater proximity between viewer and politician is evoked by closer shot lengths. However, there are large differences between the two German channels analyzed. The comparative analysis allows for interpretations that take differences in the two media and political systems into account. Overall there are an increasing number of deviating and extreme camera angles and shot lengths in so-called Image Bites. Another result confirms that there are significant differences between the leading candidates in ARD Tagesthemen, which indicate a visual bias.

Keywords: comparative study – news coverage – camera angle – shot length – visual bias

Sülflow, M., & Esser, F. (2014). Visuelle Kandidatendarstellung in Wahlkampfbeiträgen deutscher und amerikanischer Fernsehsender: Image Bites, Rollenbilder und nonverbales Verhalten. Publizistik, 59(3), 285-306.

Political communication research still lacks indepth information about the role of visual informa... more Political communication research still lacks indepth information about the role of visual information in television news. Based on a content analysis of 158 newscasts of two US and two German channels aired during national election campaigns in 2008 and 2009 respectively, this study examines visual representations of candidates’ performances that allow conclusions to be drawn about underlying campaign strategies. Furthermore, journalists’ reporting strategies are analyzed by coding so-called sound- and image bites as well as other selection processes related to nonverbal news of candidates. Results of our bi-national comparative study confirm expectations about a transnational convergence with regard to the increasing importance of image bites, whereas sound bite journalism is particularly prevalent on commercial TV channels. US news coverage reflects a highly professionalized approach by candidates, for instance by how they stage their ‘mass appeal’ and ‘closeness to the people’. German election news reflects a less populist approach towards campaigning with candidates preferring a public image as ‘statesmen’ and ‘party representative’.

Esser, F., & Umbricht, A. (2014). The Evolution of Objective and Interpretative Journalism in the Western Press. Comparing Six News Systems since the 1960s. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 91(2), 229-249.

A content analysis of 2,422 political news stories from national and regional newspapers examines... more A content analysis of 2,422 political news stories from national and regional newspapers examines the different ways in which the hard-news paradigm has been adopted in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy between the 1960s and 2000s. The study traces how hard news practices diffused differently across borders, and how they have been combined with elements of interpretation and opinion over time. This process has led to the formation of three distinct news cultures. Conclusions are drawn for a broader understanding of the evolution of news journalism and the appropriate classification of Western media systems.

Keywords
Political News, International Journalism, Comparative Media Systems Research, Professionalism, Objectivity, Interpretative Journalism, Quantitative Content Analysis

Umbricht, A., & Esser F. (2014). Changing Political News? Long-Term Trends in American, British, French, Italian, German and Swiss Press Reporting. In R. Kuhn & R. Kleis Nielsen (Eds.), Political Journalism in Transition: Western Europe in a Comparative Perspective. London: I.B. Tauris, 195-218

This study intends to examine the relevance of Hallin and Mancini’s characterizations of media sy... more This study intends to examine the relevance of Hallin and Mancini’s characterizations of media systems for explaining news output produced by print media embedded in these systems. We employ a longitudinal design comparing print outlets from six Western systems (USA, GBR, GER, SUI, FRA, ITA) in 1960/61 and 2006/07. While we find clear convergence in the preference for opinionated stories in covering politics, the use of objectivity-related and negativity-related reporting features continues to differentiate journalism models. Although institutional aspects of media systems cannot be expected to be directly reflected in content, we are able to confirm several expectations by Hallin and Mancini, including their suspicion that France and Great Britain are borderline cases of their respective models. We conclude that similar technological and economic changes around the world as well as growing transnational exchanges between the national models have not led to an across the board, wholesale homogenization of news practices.

Esser, F., & Umbricht, A. (2013). Competing Models of Journalism? Political Affairs Coverage in U.S., British, German, Swiss, French and Italian Newspapers. Journalism, 15(8), 989-1007

A content analysis of 6525 randomly sampled political news stories from national, regional and we... more A content analysis of 6525 randomly sampled political news stories from national, regional and weekly newspapers in six Western countries between 1960 and today examines to which degree discursively defined reporting styles correspond to conceptual typologies of media systems and historical classifications of journalistic traditions. Univariate and multivariate analyses of three key indicators (opinion-orientation, objectivity, negativity) reveal three approaches to newsmaking: a U.S.-led model of rational news analysis, an Italian-led model of polarized reporting, and a Germanic model of disseminating news with views. Merging a historically informed institutionalist approach with systematic content analysis, the study’s main contribution to comparative communication research is to clarify our understanding of divergent models of journalism, contextualize existing media-system typologies, and revise assumptions about the affiliation of individual system to certain models.

Esser, Frank (2008). Dimensions of Political News Cultures: Sound Bite and Image Bite News in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States. International Journal of Press/Politics, 13:4, 401-428.

This study offers the first systematic analysis of sound bites and image bites across countries a... more This study offers the first systematic analysis of sound bites and image bites across countries and across time. It goes beyond traditional sound bite research by extending
the scope of analysis also to visuals and by analyzing both sound and image bites not only with regard to their length but also with regard to their content and editorial packaging. Based on these findings, contours of three different political news cultures emerge: a strongly interventionist U.S. American approach, a moderately interventionist Anglo-German approach, and a noninterventionist French approach. Adopting an explicitly cross-national comparative perspective, the study introduces a theoretical model that explains sound bite news in divergent media systems and links it to the concept of media culture. It derives seven hypotheses from the model and tests them on three levels of analysis—organizational, national, and transnational.
Despite a growing transnational convergence, multivariate data analysis shows evidence of the enduring importance that national parameters continue to exert. Conclusions for comparative political communication research are drawn.

Keywords: comparative research; election campaign; journalism; news reporting; press systems; television news

Esser, Frank (2005). National und international vergleichende Redaktionsanalysen [National and Cross-National Newsroom Analyses]. In Juergen Wilke (Ed.), Die Aktualität der Anfänge [The Topicality of the Beginnings]. Cologne: von Halem Verlag, 176-181.

Esser, Frank (2004). Journalismus vergleichen. Komparative Forschung und Theoriebildung [Comparing Journalism: Cross-National Research and Theory Building]. In M. Loeffelholz (Ed.), Theorien des Journalismus [Journalism Theories]. Wiesbaden: Verlag fuer Sozialwissenschaften, 151-179.

Brueggemann, M., Esser, F., & Humprecht, E. (2012). The Strategic Repertoire of Publishers in the Media Crisis. Journalism Studies, 13:5-6, 742-752

Germany could be considered a deviant case in the comparative study of the current transformation... more 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.

Esser, F., & Brüggemann, M. (2010). The Strategic Crisis of German Newspapers. In D. Levy & R. Nielsen (Eds.), The Changing Business of Journalism and Its Impact on Democracy. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 39-54.

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2017). Political Public Relations and Mediatization: The Strategies of News Management. In P. van Aelst & S. Walgrave (Eds.), How Political Actors Use the Media. A Functional Analysis of the Media’s Role in Politics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave, 63-83.

Esser, F., & Neuberger, C. (2019). Realizing the Democratic Functions of Journalism in the Digital Age: New Alliances and a Return to Old Values. Journalism, 2019, Vol. 20(1) 194–197.

Blumler, J., & Esser, F. (2018). Mediatization as a Combination of Push and Pull Forces: Examples during the 2015 UK General Election Campaign. Journalism, DOI: 10.1177/1464884918754850.

This article introduces a dual perspective to the study of mediatization of politics, a political... more This article introduces a dual perspective to the study of mediatization of politics, a political actor-centric and a media actor-centric perspective. It applies both perspectives to a case study of the 2015 UK General Election campaign. The media actor-centric perspective focuses on push forces of mediatization, manifested in proactive, interventionist reporting methods. The political actor-centric perspective focuses on pull forces of mediatization, referring to how candidates and parties purposefully draw media logic into the political world in order to achieve better their campaign goals. We argue that the Conservative Party and Labour Party, when exposed to equal push forces, employed different pull strategies in the 2015 UK General Election Campaign. The article uses a set of five indicators to recognize push forces that focus on the style of questions used by journalists when interrogating politicians on TV election programmes (reflecting media actor-centric mediatization). It finds clear indications of assertiveness, adversarialism and accountability in the news approach of the BBC. To recognize pull forces, the article uses a set of seven indicators developed from the literature on campaign professionalism (reflecting political actor-centric mediatization) and finds a considerable imbalance in the effective use of pull strategies between the Conservative and Labour Parties. This latter point leads to what we call lop-sided mediatization. The

Esser, F., Stepinska, A., & Hopmann, D. N. (2016). Populism and the Media. Cross-National Findings and Perspectives. In T. Aalberg, F. Esser, C. Reinemann, J. Strömbäck & C. d. Vreese (Eds.), Populist Political Communication in Europe. Routledge, 365-380.

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Transforming Democracies and Reshaping Politics. In K. Lundby (Ed.), Mediatization of Communication. Berlin: De Gruyter Mounton, 375-403

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Understanding the Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Journalism Studies, 15(3), 243-255.

Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014). Mediatization of Politics: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. Guest-edited special issue of Journalism Studies, 15(3).

Esser, F., & Büchel, F. (2013). The Mediatization of Society: A Challenge to Democracy? In H. Kriesi & L. Mueller (Eds.), Democracy: An Ongoing Challenge. Zurich: Lars Mueller Publishers, 394-425.

Esser., F. (2013). Mediatization as a Challenge: Media Logic versus Political Logic. In Kriesi, H., Lavanex, S., Esser, F. Matthes, J., Bühlmann, M., & Bochsler, D., Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 155-176.

Palgrave Macmillan Is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and re... more

Esser., F., & Matthes, J. (2013). Mediatization Effects on Political News, Political Actors, Political Decisions, and Political Audiences. In Kriesi, H., Lavanex, S., Esser, F. Matthes, J., and others, Democracy in the Age of Globalization and Mediatization. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 177-201.

Palgrave Macmillan Is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and re... more

Strömbäck, Jesper, & Esser, Frank (2009). Shaping Politics: Mediatization and Media Interventionism. In Knut Lundby (Ed.), Mediatization: Concept, Changes, Consequences. New York: Peter Lang, 205-223

Esser, F., & Büchel, F. (2013). Die Medialisierung der Gesellschaft. Herausforderung für die Demokratie? In H. Kriesi & L. Mueller (Eds.), Herausforderung Demokratie. Zurich: Lars Mueller Publishers, 394-425.

Aelst, P.v., Strömbäck, J., Aalberg, T., Esser, F., et al. (2017). Political Communication in a High-Choice Media Environment: A Challenge for Democracy? Annals of the International Communication Association, 41(1), 3–27.

During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fund... more During the last decennia media environments and political communication systems have changed fundamentally. These changes have major ramifications for the political information environments and the extent to which they aid people in becoming informed citizens. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to review research on key changes and trends in political information environments and assess their democratic implications. We will focus on advanced postindustrial democracies and six concerns that are all closely linked to the dissemination and acquisition of political knowledge: (1) declining supply of political information, (2) declining quality of news, (3) increasing media concentration and declining diversity of news, (4) increasing fragmentation and polarization, (5) increasing relativism and (6) increasing inequality in political knowledge.

Esser, F., & Steppat, D. (2016). News Media Use: International Comparative Research. In P. Roessler, C. Hoffner & L. v. Zoonen (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects. London: Wiley-Blackwell, 1366-1383.

Brüggemann, M., Humprecht, E., Nielsen, R. K., Karppinen, K., Cornia, A., Esser, F. (2016). Framing the Newspaper ‘Crisis’. How Debates on the State of the Press Are Shaped in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and United States. Journalism Studies, 17(5), 533-551.

This article argues that discourses of a newspaper "crisis" should not be regarded simply as desc... more 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.

Hayashi, K., Curran, J., Kwak, S., Esser, F., Hallin, D.C., & Lee, C. C. (2016). Pride and Prejudice: A Five-Nation Comparative Study of Olympics Television News Coverage. Journalism Studies, DOI: 10.1080/1461670X.2015.1019550.

The Olympic Games are one of the most popular global mega-media events. However, the ways in whic... more The Olympic Games are one of the most popular global mega-media events. However, the ways in which the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London were reported varied significantly from one country to another. In order to compare how different countries represented this event, we conducted a qualitative discourse analysis of three days of television news coverage from 10 channels in five countries: the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We explored whether different locations, political systems, and television systems affect how the same event is reported. We found that while European public service broadcasters (BBC and ARD) were more serious, critical, and political than their commercial counterparts (ITV and RTL), the Japanese commercial broadcaster's coverage of the event was more critical than that of the public service broadcaster, which was popularized and nationalistic throughout. In China, the more market-oriented Dragon TV was more evaluative in its reporting than the state-run CCTV. NBC, which monopolized the broadcast rights in the United States, emphasized the universal values of the Olympics and avoided nationalism. In light of our results, future attention should be directed toward the role of commercial broadcasting in a contemporary globalized world in which ideological constellations are changing.

Lengauer, G., Esser, F., & Berganza, R. (2012). Negativity in Political News: A Review of Concepts, Operationalizations and Key Findings. Journalism, 12(2), 179-202.

The concept of negativity in political news has not reached the status of a homogenous, overarchi... more The concept of negativity in political news has not reached the status of a homogenous, overarching theoretical concept. This article proposes conceptual understandings, categorizations and practical operationalizations of negativity in the news that reflect the consensus of existing work paying special attention to recent European research. This work aims to systematize existing concepts and categories in order to increase comparability and cumulativity of empirical evidence. To structure and standardize dimensions of negativity in the news we differentiate firstly between negativity and confrontation, secondly between frame-related negativity and individual actor-related negativity, and thirdly between non-directional and directional dimensions of negativity. This article provides a common set of indicators and matrice-based classifications of negativity (and its antithesis) in the news to measure and categorize its intensity and multi-dimensionality.

Esser, F., Humprecht, E., & Büchel, F. (2012). Political Communication in Switzerland. Political Communication Report, 22(2), online

Esser, F. Schwab, S., & Engesser, S. (2012). Herausforderungen und Möglichkeiten der Regierungskommunikation im Aargau [Challenges and Possibilities of Government Communication]. In D. Kübler & B. Ziegler (Eds.), Wahl-Probleme der Demokratie. Zürich: Schulthess, 225-251.

Esser, Frank, & Hemmer, Katherina (2008). Characteristics and Dynamics of Election News Coverage in Germany. In Jesper Strömbäck and Lynda Lee Kaid (Eds.), The Handbook of Election Coverage around the World. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 289-307

Esser, F. & Engesser, S. (2010). Medienlandschaften weltweit [Media Landscapes Worldwide]. In Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Ed.), Informationen zur Politischen Bildung 309 – Massenmedien. Bonn: BPB, 76-79.

Esser, F. (2011). Sonderfall auch im Wahlkampf. Schweizer Kampagnen verändern sich rasant [Exceptional in Electioneering Too: Swiss Campaigns Are Changing Rapidly]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag, 3 July, p. 10.

Esser, F. (2011). Schockwellen im Mediensystem. Der Fukushima-Unfall als Schlüsselereignis [Shock Waves in the Media System: The Fukushima Accident as Key Event]. Message, 2011(2), 46-49.

D’Angelo, P., & Esser, F. (2014). Metacoverage and Mediatization in U.S. Presidential Elections: A Theoretical Model and Qualitative Case Study. Journalism Practice, 8(3), 295-310.

This article develops a theoretical model consisting of three mechanisms that link metacoverage, ... more This article develops a theoretical model consisting of three mechanisms that link metacoverage, a type of election campaign news, to mediatization, a meta-process in which media organizations influence politics. The mechanisms hinge on the point that metacoverage-consisting of both topics and frames-constitutes a rich set of process-oriented cues that influence how campaign organizations adjust to the media logic in the course of performing functions associated with the office-seeking political campaign logic. A case study of 2012 US presidential election news was conducted to illustrate how metacoverage influences campaign strategies.

Esser, F. (2013). Metaberichterstattung [Metacoverage]. In G. Bentele, H.-B. Brosius & O. Jarren (Eds), Lexikon Kommunikations- und Medienwissenschaft [Encyclopedia of Communications and Media]. Second revised edition. Wiesbaden: Springer, 231-232.

Esser, Frank (2009). Metacoverage of Mediated Wars: How the Press Framed the Role of the Media and Military News Management in the Iraq Wars of 1991 and 2003. American Behavioral Scientist, 52:5, 709-734.

Esser, Frank (2008): Spin Doctor. In Wolfgang Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (Vol. X). London: Blackwell, 4783-4787.

Esser, Frank & D’Angelo, Paul (2006). Framing the Press and Publicity Process in German, British and U.S. General Election Campaigns: A Comparative Study of Metacoverage. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 11:3, 44-66

This study compares metacoverage-news about the press and publicity processes-in broadcast covera... more This study compares metacoverage-news about the press and publicity processes-in broadcast coverage of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, the 2001 British general election, and the 2002 German general election. The authors observed metacoverage topics separately from press and publicity frames. The authors theorized that the presence of metacoverage topics in campaign news reflects the influence of system-level factors on campaign communication and, furthermore, that the use of press and publicity frames by journalists is influenced by a country's political communication culture. Press and publicity topics are particularly more frequent in U.S. news than in British news, corroborating systemic differences between the countries. However, press and publicity topics co-occur with, and press and publicity frames contextualize, the same rank order of campaign topics in all three countries, demonstrating convergence among political communication cultures in these three democracies.

Esser, Frank & Spanier, Bernd (2005). News Management as News. How Media Politics Leads to Metacoverage. Journal of Political Marketing, 4:4, 27-58.

by Frank Esser and Bernd Spanier

It is well known that voters prefer candidates of their own race or ethnicity, but in general thi... more It is well known that voters prefer candidates of their own race or ethnicity, but in general this preference does not have to compete with partisanship. In other words, most voters are given consistent voting cues from both race or ethnicity and partisanship. But in rare cases the partisanship of minority candidates is out of sync with those of most voters of their shared race or ethnicity, e.g., a Republican Mexican-American or a Democratic Cuban-American. In such instances, will Latino voters choose to support their co-ethnic? Or will they instead vote for the candidate of their political party? This paper examines the attitudes and behaviors of Latino voters faced with such a choice in a recent Central California Congressional election. In this instance, partisan group identification cues predominated over ethnic group identification cues, and most Latinos chose to support the Democratic Anglo candidate.

Esser, Frank, & D’Angelo, Paul (2003). Framing the Press and the Publicity Process: A Content Analysis of Metacoverage in Campaign 2000 Network News. American Behavioral Scientist, 46:5, 617-641.

showed 11 script structures corresponding to three frames called conduit, strategy, and accountab... more

D’Angelo, Paul, & Esser, Frank (2003). Metacoverage of the Press and Publicity in Campaign 2000 Network News. In L.L. Kaid, J.C. Tedesco, D. Bystrom, & M.S. McKinney (Eds.), The Millennium Election: Communication in the 2000 Campaigns. Lanham, MD.: Rowman and Littlefield, 89-103.

Esser, Frank, Reinemann, Carsten & Fan, David P. (2001). Spin Doctors in the United States, Great Britain and Germany. Metacommunication about Media Manipulation. The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 6:1, 16-45.

This study develops a new concept in political communication theory called metacommunication. It ... more This study develops a new concept in political communication theory called metacommunication. It argues that metacommunication (1) describes a new, third stage in election coverage after issue and strategy coverage; (2) reflects the mass media's new role as a political institution in the third age of political communication; and (3) can be seen as the news media's response to a new,third force in news making: professional political PR. Metacommunication is defined as the news media's selfreferential reflections on the nature of the interplay between political public relations and political journalism.While metacoverage can take two forms,self-referential news and process news, the present study puts the main emphasis on the latter. It argues that the coverage of campaign strategists and spin doctors can be seen as a prime example of metadiscursive process news. A cross-country content analysis of "spin doctors in the press" reveals different profiles of metacoverage in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany that can be explained by the different media cultures and political PR cultures. While metacoverage is discussed as a new style of reporting to be welcomed in the view of professionalized political PR, journalism is inherently limited in analyzing PR adequately.

Esser, F. (2008). Metaberichterstattung. Medienselbstthematisierung und Publicity-Thematisierung in amerikanischen, britischen und deutschen Wahlkämpfen. In G. Melischek, J. Seethaler & J. Wilke (Eds.), Medien & Kommunikationsforschung im Vergleich. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 121-156.

Der Prozess der Mediatisierung verweist auf die zunehmende Bedeutungssteigerung der Massenmedien ... more Der Prozess der Mediatisierung verweist auf die zunehmende Bedeutungssteigerung der Massenmedien für die politische Kommunikation. 1 Diese Entwicklung, in der "the media [are] moving toward the center of the social process" (Blumler/Kavanagh 1999: 211), begünstigt den Modern Publicity Process, worunter Jay Blumler eine wachsende Intervention der Medien in politische Vorgänge versteht, was zwischen Journalisten und Politikern einen "competitive struggle to influence and control popular perceptions of key political events and issues through the mass media" auslöst (Blumler 1990: 103). Der Beziehungsstress entzündet sich am Bedürfnis beider Akteursgruppen, die Kommunikationskontrolle über die öffentlich zirkulierenden Botschaften und Themen -gerade im Wahlkampf -zu behalten.

Esser, Frank, & Schwabe, Christine (2008): Eitelkeit und Eigenwerbung. Wenn Medien sich im Krieg selbst zum Thema machen. In Martin Löffelholz, Christian F. Trippe, und Andrea C. Hoffmann (Hg.), Kriegs- und Krisenberichterstattung: Ein Handbuch. Konstanz: UVK, 245-247.

Esser, Frank, Schwabe, Christine, & Wilke, Juergen (2005). Metaberichterstattung im Krieg. Wie Tageszeitungen die Rolle der Nachrichtenmedien und der Militär-PR in den Irakkonflikten 1991 und 2003 framen. Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft, 53:2, 314-332.

Tenscher, Jens, & Esser, Frank (2005). Oeffentlichkeitsarbeit als berufliches Handeln: Politik [Public Relations as a Profession: Politics]. In G. Bentele, R. Froehlich & P. Szyszka (Eds.), Handbuch Public Relations [Handbook of Public Relations]. Wiesbaden: Verlag fuer Sozialwissenschaften.

Esser, Frank (2003). Wie die Medien ihre eigene Rolle und die der politischen Publicity im Bundestageswahlkampf framen. Metaberichterstattung: Ein neues Konzept im Test. In Christina Holtz-Bacha (Ed), Die Massenmedien im Wahlkampf. Die Bundestagwahl 2002. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag, 162-193.

Esser, F. (2003). Metaberichterstattung. Begründung eines Konzepts der Medienselbsthematisierung und Publicity-Thematisierung in internationalen Wahlkämpfen. In R. Blum, H. Bonfadelli, K. Imhof & O. Jarren (Eds), Mediengesellschaft – Strukturen, Merkmale, Dynamiken. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 314-346.

Esser, F. (2000). Spin Doctoring in den USA - Eine Lehre für Deutschland? PR Magazin, H. 10, 35-40

Im Vorfeld der Bundestagswahl 1998 spekuherten deutsche Medien erstrnals intensiver uber das Phan... more Im Vorfeld der Bundestagswahl 1998 spekuherten deutsche Medien erstrnals intensiver uber das Phanomen Spin Doctoring. Die Themenkarriere begann am 5. Marz 1998 mit einem Beitrag in der Zeit. Unter der ~berschrift ,,Invasion der Imagepfleger" schdderte das Blatt die ungewohnlich professionelle Struktur der SPD-Wahlkampfzentrale Icampa. Der Gesamtkoordinator Mathias Machnig wurde mit dem Etikett ,,des Spin Doctors, des Strippenziehers hinter den I M ssen" charakterisiert. Funf Tage spater beschrieb &e Siiddeutsche Zeitung Bodo Hombach, der bei der Landtagswahl in Niedersachsen als Wahlkampfberater von Gerhard Schroder fungierte, ebenfalls als Spin Doctor. Bei solchen Figuren handelt es sich laut SZ urn ,,Politikexperten, die Faden ziehen und Nachrichten machen, von denen nachher keiner wein, woher sie kamen". In weiteren Beitragen wurde der angelsach-

Esser, F. (2000). Spin doctoring – Zur Ruestungsspirale zwischen politischer PR und politischem Journalismus [Spin doctoring – On the Arms Race between Political PR and Political Journalism]. Forschungsjournal Neue Soziale Bewegungen, 13:3, 17-24

Esser, Frank, Reinemann, Carsten & Fan, David P. (2000). Spin Doctoring in British and German Election Campaigns. How the Press is Being Confronted with a New Quality of Political PR. European Journal of Communication, 15:2, 209-239.

Esser, F. (2000). Spin doctoring als Regierungs-PR. Strategisches Skandal-, Themen- und Image-Management der Clinton-Administration. In K. Kamps (Ed)., Transatlantik, transportabel? Die Amerikanisierungsthese in der politischen Kommunikation. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag, 129-158.

Esser, Frank (2008). Stimulus-Response Model. In Wolfgang Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (Vol. X). London: Blackwell, 4836-4840.

Esser, Frank (2008). History of Media Effects. In Wolfgang Donsbach (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication (Vol. VII). London: Blackwell, 2891-2896.

Esser, Frank, Holtz-Bacha, Christina, & Lessinger, Eva-Maria (2008). A Low Key Affair: German Parties’ TV Advertising in the 2004 European Election Campaign. In Lynda Lee Kaid (Ed.), The Expansion Election: Communicating Shared Sovereignty in the Parliamentary Elections. New York: Peter Lang, 65-84.

Esser, Frank, Holtz-Bacha, Christina, & Lessinger, Eva-Maria (2005). Sparsam in jeder Hinsicht. Die Fernsehwerbung der Parteien im Europawahlkampf 2004. In C. Holtz-Bacha (Ed), Europawahl 2004. Die Massenmedien im Europawahlkampf. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 65-89

Esser, Frank (2005). Stimulus-Reponse-Model. In S. Weischenberg, H.J. Kleinsteuber & B. Poerksen (Eds), Handbuch Journalismus und Medien [Handbook Journalism and Media]. Konstanz: UVK, 436-437.

Roessing, Thomas, & Esser, Frank (2004). Auswirkungen von Rand- und Nebenbedingungen auf Messungen und Kausalitätsannahmen im Experiment. In W. Wirth, E. Lauf & A. Fahr (Eds), Forschungslogik und –designs in der Kommunikationswissenschaft, pp. 115-127. Cologne: van Halem.

Brosius, Hans-Bernd, & Esser, Frank (1998). Mythen in der Wirkungsforschung: Auf der Suche nach dem Stimulus-Response-Modell [Myths in Effects Research: In Search of the Stimulus-Response Model]. Publizistik, 43:4, 341-361.

Brosius, Hans-Bernd, Breinker, Carsten, & Esser, Frank (1991). Immermehrismus. Journalistisches Stilmittel oder Realitätsverzerrung? [More-And-More-Ism. Journalistic Ploy or News Bias?] Publizistik, 36, 407-427.

Esser, Frank (2005). Media in Great Britain. In S. Weischenberg, H.J. Kleinsteuber & B. Poerksen (Eds), Handbuch Journalismus und Medien [Handbook Journalism and Media]. Konstanz: UVK, 91-97.

Esser, Frank (2003). Journalism Training in Great Britain: A System Rich in Tradition But Currently in Transition. In R. Froehlich & C. Holtz-Bacha (Eds), Journalism Education in Europe and North America: An International Comparison. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 333-365.

Esser, Frank (2002). Putting Reality Together – BBC News, by Philip Schlesinger. In C. Holtz-Bacha & A. Kutsch (Eds), Schluesselwerke der Kommunikationswissenschaft [Key Studies in Communication Research]. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden, 400-402.

Esser, Frank (1999). Tabloidization of News. A Comparative Analysis of Anglo-American and German Press Journalism. European Journal of Communication, 14:3, 291-324.

'Tabloidization' is a new, frequently used term equally employed by journalists, media critics an... more 'Tabloidization' is a new, frequently used term equally employed by journalists, media critics and academics to characterize a recent, dubious trend in the mass media. This article sets out to define this diffuse, multidimensional concept and discusses its usefulness for communication research. It emerges that 'tabloidization' can only be analysed adequately with a long-term cross-national design that focuses on quality news media and employs a wide range of empirical measures. This approach is taken here by comparing the press of Britain, Germany and the US, whereas the focus remains on the first two countries. A three-step empirical analysisbased on a definition developed before -demonstrates that journalistic values, media cultures as well as economic and legal conditions are responsible for the degree of 'tabloidization' in a given country.

Esser, Frank (1999). Ursachen groesserer Recherchebereitschaft im englischen Journalismus. Eine Analyse aus vergleichender Perspektive [Investigative Reporting in England. An Analysis in Comparative Perspective]. Rundfunk und Fernsehen, 47:2, 201-219.

Esser, F. (1998). Die Kräfte hinter den Schlagzeilen. Englischer und deutscher Journalismus im Vergleich [The Powers Behind the Headlines: British and German Journalism Compared]. Freiburg: Alber.

Esser, Frank (1998). Editorial Structures and Work Principles in British and German Newsrooms. European Journal of Communication, 13:3, 375-405.

Work in newsrooms can be organized in various ways following different principles. For historical... more Work in newsrooms can be organized in various ways following different principles. For historical reasons, German and Anglo-Saxon newspaper offices operate quite differently. Whereas British and American newspapers favour centralized newsrooms with a high division of labour, German newspapers tend to decentralize their work by maintaining many more branch offices which produce complete sections of the paper. In addition, employees in German newsrooms have more responsibilities and perform a greater range of journalistic tasks than their Anglo-Saxon counterparts. The reason is that in Germany a 'holistic' understanding of journalism prevails; editorial work is regarded as an 'integrated whole' not to be broken up. As the present study demonstrates, editorial work can be modelled on different organizational principles -each having advantages and disadvantages. The known and established routines of one country are neither the only ones nor necessarily the best. This article sets out to compare British and German newsroom structures, discusses characteristics, causes and consequences of the different models and evaluates them in context of the respective journalistic systems. It also demonstrates that in newsroom analyses, 'open' and 'closed' organizations as well as 'personal' and 'organizational bias' must be distinguished.

Esser, Frank, Scheufele, Bertram, & Brosius, Hans-Bernd (2002). Fremdenfeindlichkeit als Medienthema und Medienwirkung. Deutschland im internationalen Scheinwerferlicht [Hate Crimes as a Media Topic and Media Effect. Germany in the International Spotlight]. Wiesbaden: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Fan, David P., Brosius, Hans-Bernd, & Esser, Frank (2001). Computer and human co¬ding of German texts on attacks on foreigners. In Mark West (ed.), Practice of Computer Content Analysis. Stamford: Ablex 145-164.

Esser, F. (1998): Strategien der Ausländerberichterstattung in der Deutschen Nationalzeitung. In Siegfried Quandt & Wolfgang Gast (Ed.), Deutschland im Dialog der Kulturen. Medien, Images, Verständigung. München: Ölschläger, 115-133.

Brosius, Hans-Bernd, & Esser, Frank (1996). Massenmedien und fremdenfeindliche Gewalt [Mass Media and Violence Against Foreigners]. Politische Vierteljahresschrift, Special Issue on Rechtsextremismus / Right-Wing Extremism ed. by J. W. Falter, H.-G. Jaschke, J. R. Winkler, 204-218.

Esser, Frank, & Brosius, Hans-Bernd (1996). Television as Arsonist? The Spread of Right-Wing Violence in Germany. European Journal of Communication, 11:2, 235-260.

Brosius, H. B. & Esser, F. (1995). Eskalation durch Berichterstattung? Mas¬senmedien und fremdenfeindliche Gewalt [Escalation Through Reporting? Mass Media and Violence Against Foreigners]. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.

Esser, F., & Hartung, U. (2006). Skandale als Spiegel der politischen Kultur in Deutschland: Konstruktionen und Berichterstattungsmuster. In K. Kamps & J. U. Nieland (Eds.), Regieren und Kommunikation: Meinungsbildung, Entscheidungsfindung und Kommunikationsmanagement. Köln: von Halem, 305-336.

Esser, Frank & Hartung, Uwe (2004). Nazis, Polution and No Sex. Political Scandals as a Reflection of Political Culture in Germany. American Behavioral Scientist, 47:8, 1040-1071.

This article briefly summarizes the German research literature on scandal and then outlines a the... more This article briefly summarizes the German research literature on scandal and then outlines a theory of scandal as a socially constructed communication pattern. The theory distinguishes macro-and micro-level approaches for addressing the question of which malfunctions a society selects for scandal. The manifest and latent functions of scandals are discussed with special emphasis on the role of the mass media. The authors'concept of scandal is linked to the concept of political culture. The article then reviews, from a comparative cross-national point of view, (a) scandals that were formative for the development of democratic political culture in Germany, (b) scandals that are linked to the particular history of Germany, (c) scandals that do not distinguish Germany from other societies, and (d) scandals that are conspicuously missing in Germany although common in other countries. On this basis, five conclusions are drawn about the relationship of political scandal and political culture.

Kepplinger, H. M., Eps, P., Esser, F., & Gattwinkel, D. (1993). Am Pranger. Der Fall Späth und der Fall Stolpe. In W. Donsbach, O. Jarren, H. M. Kepplinger, B. Pfetsch (Eds.), Beziehungsspiele - Medien und Politik in der öffentlichen Diskussion. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann, 159-220

Kunz, R., & Esser, F. (2015). Die politischen Hoffnungen des Internets: Welche Informationsformate können die Partizipation von Jugendlichen befördern? In K. Imhof, R. Blum, H. Bonfadelli, O. Jarren & V. Wyss (Eds.), Demokratisierung durch Social Media? Wiesbaden: Springer, 55-74.

Wie beeinflusst die Nachrichtennutzung die politische Partizipation Jugendlicher? Auch wenn diese... more Wie beeinflusst die Nachrichtennutzung die politische Partizipation Jugendlicher? Auch wenn diese Frage eine beachtliche Geschichte in der Kommunikationsforschung hat, ist eine Antwort unter den heutigen Multikanal-Bedingungen und innerhalb des Sozialisationspro-zesses alles andere als einfach. Es ist daher hilfreich, die gegenwärtige Situation aus der Perspektive der Mediatisierung, welche auf die Entgrenzung der Medienkommunikation verweist, zu analysieren. Wird der politische Sozialisationsprozess im Rahmen der Me-diatisierung betrachtet (Delli Carpini 2004, Saxer 2012, Schulz 2014; Shehata/Strömbäck 2014), so gelangen nebst den klassischen Massenmedien als Bereich der Sozialisation auch Nachrichtenquellen aus dem Internet ins Blickfeld. Die aktive politische Partizipation, die als ein aus der politischen Sozialisation resultierendes Verhalten betrachtet werden kann, ist ebenfalls ergänzt geworden durch neuere Online-Partizipationsformen. Auch wenn der Motor gegenwärtiger Mediatisierungsprozesse das Internet ist, ist das das Konzept der Me-diatisierung kein technizistisches. Der Mediatisierungsprozess lässt Raum für menschli-ches Handeln (Cardoso 2008: 589). Das mobilisierende Potenzial des Internets auf Jugend-liche – den sogenannten " digital natives " – wurde oft gepriesen, ohne deren tatsächlichen Aneignungsprozesse näher zu betrachten. Diese Studie legt den Fokus auf das Handeln der Jugendlichen in einem mediatisierten Umfeld. Konkret betrachten wir die Nutzung unter-schiedlicher Nachrichtenquellen und zeichnen mittels Längsschnittdaten deren Effekte auf die Partizipation nach. Wir differenzieren die Nachrichtenquellen ihrem Kanal, Format und ihrer Informationsqualität, und wir differenzieren zwischen inter-und intrapersonellen Ef-fekten. Ferner unterscheiden wir die politische Partizipation nach Online-und Offline-Ak-tivitäten. Diese Vielfalt der Differenzierungen ermöglicht es, die Bedeutung des Internets innerhalb des Sozialisierungsprozesses recht präzise zu bestimmen .

Möller, J., de Vreese, C., Esser, F., & Kunz, R. (2014). Pathway to Political Participation: The Influence of Online and Offline News Media on Internal Efficacy and Turnout of First Time Voters. American Behavioral Scientist, 58(5), 689-700.

News media play a key role in informing young citizens about politics and cultivating a sense of ... more News media play a key role in informing young citizens about politics and cultivating a sense of political efficacy. Online news media, in particular, are expected to have a positive impact due to their interactivity and new opportunities to share and discuss information. This study analyzes the impact of online and offline news media use on the growth in internal efficacy among adolescents, based on data we collected in a three-wave panel survey in the Netherlands (N = 729). Additionally, we test the impact of internal efficacy on turnout using a fourth wave of the same sample (N = 612). The results show that while newspaper reading has the strongest effects among traditional news sources, actively participating in the communication process of political information online has the strongest impact on internal efficacy. Internal efficacy in turn is found to be a significant predictor of first-time voters. The article concludes with a discussion of media use as a pathway to political participation through internal political efficacy.

Kunz, R., Moeller, J., Esser, F., & de Vreese, C. (2014). Comparing Political Participation in Different Institutional Environments: The Mobilizing Effect of (...). In M. J. Canel & K. Voltmer (Eds.), Comparing Political Communication Across Time And Space. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 117-134.

Esser, Frank, & de Vreese, Claes (2007). Comparing Young Voters’ Political Engagement in the United States and Europe. American Behavioral Scientist, 50:9, 1195-1213.

The growing reluctance among youth to participate in politics and exercise their right to vote ri... more The growing reluctance among youth to participate in politics and exercise their right to vote rings alarm bells across the globe. This study adopts a comparative perspective to identify factors that might help reengage youth in the political process by documenting the scope and pervasiveness of the problem in the United States and the EU. This cross-national study shows that the antecedents of youth turnout are highly similar in the United States and in the EU member states. The authors also find a strong and consistently positive effect of news media use and interactive communication (online and interpersonal) on youth turnout.

Bisherige Befunde zur Imitation von Gewalt durch Massenmedien

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Die Rolle der Medien bei der Verbreitung von Gewalt

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Massenmedien als Spiegel oder Gestalter gesellschaftlicher Realität

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Gewalt gegen Ausländer

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Ausländer und Fremdenfeindlichkeit in Deutschland

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Ergebnisse: Ereignislage und Berichterstattung

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Zusammenfassung und Diskussion der Befunde

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Anlage der Untersuchung

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Fragestellung und Hypothesen der Untersuchung

Eskalation durch Berichterstattung?, 1995

Comm Research—Views from Europe| Comparative Communication Enquiry: Advanciing Cross-National Research in Times of Globalization

International Journal of Communication, Jan 15, 2013

Virtually no other approach has potential to bring communication studies further forward in the a... more Virtually no other approach has potential to bring communication studies further forward in the age of transnationalization than the comparative approach. I am aware that this a bold statement, and I will explain in the following what I mean by it. Comparative analysis is characterized by several advantages that explain its growing prevalence . It provides a contrast to naïve universalism, countering the tendency to presume that communication findings from one's own country also apply to other countries. As Paolo Mancini argues in the previous article, only comparative research draws our attention to different "models of journalism," but also to the clear differences in how journalism is currently undergoing change in societies around the world.

Kunz, R., Moeller, J., Esser, F., & de Vreese, C. (2014). Comparing Political Participation in Different Institutional Environments: The Mobilizing Effect of Direct Democracy on Young People. In M. J. Canel & K. Voltmer (Eds.), Comparing Political Communication Across Time And Space. Basingstoke:...

Mapping Political Reporting Styles. TV Election News in the United States, Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain

The Mediatization of Society: A Challenge to Democracy?

Die Medialisierung der Gesellschaft. Herausforderung für die Demokratie?

Pride and Prejudice

Journalism Studies

The Olympic Games are one of the most popular global mega-media events. However, the ways in whic... more The Olympic Games are one of the most popular global mega-media events. However, the ways in which the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London were reported varied significantly from one country to another. In order to compare how different countries represented this event, we conducted a qualitative discourse analysis of three days of television news coverage from 10 channels in five countries: the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We explored whether different locations, political systems, and television systems affect how the same event is reported. We found that while European public service broadcasters (BBC and ARD) were more serious, critical, and political than their commercial counterparts (ITV and RTL), the Japanese commercial broadcaster’s coverage of the event was more critical than that of the public service broadcaster, which was popularized and nationalistic throughout. In China, the more market-oriented Dragon TV was more evaluative in...

The Push to Popularize Politics

Journalism Studies, 2014

Spin Doctors in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany: Metacommunication about Media Manipulation

by Carsten Reinemann and Frank Esser

Harvard International Journal of Press-politics, 2001

This study develops a new concept in political communication theory called metacommunication. It ... more This study develops a new concept in political communication theory called metacommunication. It argues that metacommunication (1) describes a new, third stage in election coverage after issue and strategy coverage; (2) reflects the mass media's new role as a political institution in the third age of political communication; and (3) can be seen as the news media's response to a new,third force in news making: professional political PR. Metacommunication is defined as the news media's selfreferential reflections on the nature of the interplay between political public relations and political journalism.While metacoverage can take two forms,self-referential news and process news, the present study puts the main emphasis on the latter. It argues that the coverage of campaign strategists and spin doctors can be seen as a prime example of metadiscursive process news. A cross-country content analysis of "spin doctors in the press" reveals different profiles of metacoverage in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany that can be explained by the different media cultures and political PR cultures. While metacoverage is discussed as a new style of reporting to be welcomed in the view of professionalized political PR, journalism is inherently limited in analyzing PR adequately.

Framing the Press and Publicity Process in U.S., British, and German General Election Campaigns: A Comparative Study of Metacoverage

by Paul D'Angelo and Frank Esser

The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 2006

This study compares metacoverage-news about the press and publicity processes-in broadcast covera... more This study compares metacoverage-news about the press and publicity processes-in broadcast coverage of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, the 2001 British general election, and the 2002 German general election. The authors observed metacoverage topics separately from press and publicity frames. The authors theorized that the presence of metacoverage topics in campaign news reflects the influence of system-level factors on campaign communication and, furthermore, that the use of press and publicity frames by journalists is influenced by a country's political communication culture. Press and publicity topics are particularly more frequent in U.S. news than in British news, corroborating systemic differences between the countries. However, press and publicity topics co-occur with, and press and publicity frames contextualize, the same rank order of campaign topics in all three countries, demonstrating convergence among political communication cultures in these three democracies.