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Palgrave: Many studies of political journalism in Europe claim that the quality of political journalism has deteriorated as a consequence of increasing media competitiveness and media commercialization. There is, however, a lack of longitudinal studies that compare news media across time. The study by Nord and Strömbäck fills this void by examining political journalism in leading television news programs in Sweden during the four most recent national election campaigns: 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. Nord and Strömbäck find no clear signs of continuous commercialization over time in terms of an increase in game-frame news stories and more interpretive reporting. The same patterns appear in both public service and private television. Overall, electoral events seem to be more important in determining the character of political TV news than media commercialization.

"This chapter reviews literature on selective exposure in political communication. It first points to the importance of selectivity given an unprecedented amount and diversity of media sources. The chapter then focuses on the antecedents, psychological processes (e.g., confirmation bias), and outcomes of selective exposure to media content. The relevance of media credibility and hostile media perceptions, of tendencies to self-confirm, and of informational utility for selective exposure are discussed. The chapter then reflects on the consequences of selective exposure for the accessibility of attitudes and partisanship. The author concludes that selective exposure is in fact governed by attitude importance and a confirmation bias, even though informational utility may override this tendency under certain circumstances." (publisher's description)

"This paper reviews research on the role of communication in political socialization. Starting from a basic definition the impact of different agents (family, peers, school, mass media) and communicative processes (interpersonal vs. mass communication) on various outcomes of political socialization (i.e. political knowledge, norms and values, attitudes, participation) is discussed. It is argued that research has amply demonstrated the role of media and communication as agents of socialization. However, the paper highlights that changes in parental generations, the media landscape, and in adolescents themselves provide good reason to revisit questions of how communication impacts how adolescents develop into citizens in democratic societies. Finally, the chapter addresses several aspects that researchers should consider in their future work on political socialization." (publisher's description)

"This paper reviews research on the role of communication in political socialization. Starting from a basic definition the impact of different agents (family, peers, school, mass media) and communicative processes (interpersonal vs. mass communication) on various outcomes of political socialization (i.e. political knowledge, norms and values, attitudes, participation) is discussed. It is argued that research has amply demonstrated the role of media and communication as agents of socialization. However, the paper highlights that changes in parental generations, the media landscape, and in adolescents themselves provide good reason to revisit questions of how communication impacts how adolescents develop into citizens in democratic societies. Finally, the chapter addresses several aspects that researchers should consider in their future work on political socialization." (publisher's description).

"This chapter reviews literature on selective exposure in political communication. It first points to the importance of selectivity given an unprecedented amount and diversity of media sources. The chapter then focuses on the antecedents, psychological processes (e.g., confirmation bias), and outcomes of selective exposure to media content. The relevance of media credibility and hostile media perceptions, of tendencies to self-confirm, and of informational utility for selective exposure are discussed. The chapter then reflects on the consequences of selective exposure for the accessibility of attitudes and partisanship. The author concludes that selective exposure is in fact governed by attitude importance and a confirmation bias, even though informational utility may override this tendency under certain circumstances." (publisher's description).

Der Umgang des Staates mit Informationen ist seit einiger Zeit vermehrt zum Gegenstand gesellschaftlicher Diskussionen geworden. Ohne Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit sind zu nennen: ganz allgemein das Thema Open Government und Open Government Data, das Transparenzgesetz in Hamburg, vergleichbare Bestrebungen in anderen Bundesländern, die Freischaltung eines ebenenübergreifenden Datenportals durch den Bund (www.govdata.de), die entsprechenden Länderportale (z.B.: www.daten.hamburg.de; www.daten.berlin.de), aber auch kommunale Aktivitäten in diesem Bereich (z.B.: www.offenedaten.moers.de; www.opendata-hro.de). Zurückhaltender Umgang mit Informationsanfragen seitens öffentlicher Stellen wird zunehmend kritisiert: so zum Beispiel die Aussage des Bundesministerium des Innern, die Bearbeitung von Informationsanfragen nach dem IFG halte die Mitarbeiter von ihren "eigentlichen Aufgaben" ab.

Der Beitrag nimmt im Rahmen des Handbuchs zur Regierungsforschung die politische Meinungs- und Willensbildung in der "post-modernen" Mediendemokratie in den Blick. Im Mittelpunkt steht dabei die Frage nach der Legitimation durch Kommunikation. Legitimation durch Kommunikation gilt als Grundlage allen demokratischen Regierens. Demgegenüber zieht die Rede von der "post-modernen" Mediendemokratie - ganz im Sinne der Postdemokratie-These von Colin Crouch - die legitimatorische Bedeutung politischer Kommunikation bei Aufrechterhaltung demokratischer Strukturen prinzipiell in Zweifel. Nach einleitenden Anmerkungen zur Problemlage betrachtet der Beitrag den Medieneinfluss auf Politik und Bürger im Prozess der Medialisierung. Im Anschluss daran skizziert der Beitrag politische Kommunikation in der Darstellungs- und Entscheidungspolitik und wendet sich Akteuren und Handlungsfeldern politischer Kommunikation zu. Die abschließenden Überlegungen gelten der Legitimation und Delegitimation in der "post-modernen" Mediendemokratie. (ICA2)