Political news refers to the depiction of current events and issues relevant to the political life of individual politicians, collective actors (national governments, international organizations, societal groups, interest and lobbyists, parties and social movements) as well as public discourse on these topics. In democratic societies it is well established that the picture of political reality presented in the media influences not only ordinary citizens but also societal groups, political leaders and nation-states (Delli Carpini and Keeter 1996).
The availability of cheap mass printing presses in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as well as the advent of radio and television about a century later made political news widely available to a general audience for the first time. Since then the number of news outlets has multiplied exponentially and the deployment of global news logistics as well as advances in cable, satellite and Internet technologies have greatly expanded the scope and frequency of political news coverage.
National politics and a small group of political candidates and issues dominate the news, especially during election years. The use of rhetoric and flamboyant headlines, which were once the preserve of tabloid newspapers, has become more mainstream and can often be seen on the internet.
People have more choices and access to information than at any other time in history, yet long-term studies spanning decades show no significant increase in citizen knowledge about political events or issues (see Graber 2002). It is likely that the conventional approach of studying the contribution of the media to civic knowledge – through tests that measure factual political knowledge – does not correspond to the way that people process information about politics – for instance, in order to make reasoned electoral decisions.
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