Page 275 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Political News Journalists

questionnaire was to be given. The name and address of the Post’s news
editor was obtained from Benn’s Media Directory, a standard reference
book on the British media. The selection process in the United States,
Sweden, and Germany was the same as that for Great Britain, although
the proportion of journalists who were contacted directly and through
news editors varied slightly in each case.
The survey included an original mailing and a follow-up. In each
country, 600 journalists were contacted. The surveys were done sequen-
tially in the 1991–3 period, beginning with the United States and con-
cluding with Italy. The response rates in the five countries varied from
51 percent (303 replies) for Germany to 36 percent (216 respondents)
for Great Britain. The response rates for the United States, Sweden, and
Italy respectively were 46 percent (278 respondents), 45 percent (272
respondents), and 49 percent (292 respondents).
The questionnaire was sweeping in its scope. Among the areas it ex-
plored were the nature of news organizations; the structures and norms
of news processes; journalists’ perceptions of public opinion and groups;
the factors that play a role in news decisions; journalists’ attitudes to-
ward press law and policy; journalists’ conceptions of objectivity; jour-
nalists’ social, economic, and educational backgrounds; how journalists
allocate their time and attention across various news tasks; journalists’
relationship with political officials; and journalists’ partisan and political
views.
In the sections that follow, we will discuss some of our findings for
the purpose of indicating the power of a comparative design.

CASE 1: JOURNALISTS AS POLITICAL ACTORS
The long-term trend in news organizations has been toward increasing
political independence. As McQuail notes, the “party newspaper has lost
ground to commercial press forms, both as an idea and as a viable busi-
ness enterprise” (McQuail 1994, 15). Nevertheless, vestiges of the old-
time partisan press remain, particularly in European newspaper systems
(Donsbach 1983; K¨ ocher 1986; McQuail 1994, 15). Nor are broadcast or-
ganizations completely outside the fray of partisan politics. In Germany,
Italy, France, and some other European countries, broadcasting has at
times been structured in ways that allow parties or governments to af-
fect news content (McQuail 1994, 172). Finally, allegations of a “hidden”
bias among journalists have surfaced in nearly every Western democracy.
Journalists have been described as social critics whose personal beliefs,

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