1. The mediatization of politics Gianpietro Mazzoleni La comunicazione politica Chapter 3

2. What is mediatization? Centrality of the mass media in the (social and political) communication The economic goals of the media shape the political narratives Media as a branch of government (fourth power)

3. Mediatization defined The four dimensions of the mediatization of politics

4. The systemic effects of the mediatization Media effects – Spectacularization – Agenda – Fractionalization Political effects – Personalization – Leaderization – Selection of political élites

5. Media effects 1 Spectacularization All politicians make use of media All politicians must follow the frames of the mass communication They have also to activate the interest of the media

6. Media effects 2 Agenda Agenda setting: citizens’ issue priority Agenda building: governments’ issue priority

7. Media effects 3 Fractionalization Sound bites Packaging politics

8. Political effects 1 Personalization Each politician is assessed as a single person rather than as a partisan leader, due to changes in communication – Popularization – Pervasiveness of the TV – End of the ideology

9. Political effects 2 Leaderization A similar effect, named “leaderization”, is due to – Different kinds of democracy – Electoral systems Plurality Preferential voting Direct election – Vanishing of the mass parties

10. Political effects 3 Selection Candidates are increasingly selected according to their media profile – The winnowing effect occurring during the presidential primaries in the United States is an evident example

11. Mediatization and Internet Internet and the Web 2.0 are different from classical media – We could talk of an end of the mediatization due to the direct relationship now practicable between politicians and citizens (disintermediation) – Alternatively we could talk about a new form of extended mediatization including old media and Internet