Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Metacoverage is understood as a plausible reaction of professional journalists to the changed reporting conditions in modern media wars. It is defined as news stories about the roles of the news media (including media actors, media practices, media standards, media products, and media organizations) and the roles of the military publicity process (including PR actors, practices, strategies, products and organizations of political public relations and military news management) in mediated conflicts or campaigns. This study shows that journalists use four different frames to describe the role of the news media and of military news management; these frames are called Conduit, Strategy, Personalization, and Accountability. A content analysis of five leading German newspapers revealed a marked increase in metacoverage from the first Iraq war in 1991 to the second in 2003. Journalists tended to write themselves into the story more often and portrayed the news media involvement in increasingly more active terms. Consequences for political communication research are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Research has amply demonstrated that news media often engage in strategy framing when covering politics. More recently, the notion of strategic press and publicity coverage have been coined to show how political journalism is increasingly focusing on the media’s significant role in the game of politics, as well as politicians’ calculated publicity and public relations efforts in relation to the media. This paper examines the effect of strategic press and publicity coverage on perceptions of political PR once its practitioners and their publicity efforts have become the object of reporting. Drawing on data from two experiments allowing for replication within a single study, the paper shows how political PR professionals have themselves little to gain from becoming part of the story. The implications are considered in the light of the growing significance of media politics, strategic metacoverage, and public cynicism about politics.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examines the effects of generic strategy news, self-referential press news, and “spin” spotlighting publicity coverage on political cynicism and participation, against the backdrop of routine politics and public policy. Drawing on data from two experiments allowing for replication within a single study, we demonstrate that exposure to both generic and publicity strategy news aroused political cynicism relative to issue-based news, but also that issue news dampened cynicism compared to when no news was consumed at all. In addition, we found positive interactions between political knowledge and strategic press and publicity news exposure, so that more knowledgeable individuals were more affected by these frames. However, political participation remained unaffected, thereby questioning the demobilizing impact of strategic news and metacoverage on political cynicism.