WP 1

International comparison: structural contexts and audiences

This work package focuses on two central questions:

  1. How do structural factors at the level of the countries in this study, the types of media looked at, individual media providers and specific individual outlets influence the quality of the relevant media coverage?
  2. Which population groups rely on higher- or lower-quality media for their media consumption?

To answer these questions, indicators for structural contexts and media consumption are gathered for the three countries and their relationship to the media quality examined in the other work packages is evaluated.

1. Structural contexts: Media quality – as a result of journalistic work – is influenced by the conditions under which this work is performed. Media system indicators are to be determined at the macro level of the countries. These include the size and the density of the media market as well as the technical infrastructures, competition posed by foreign providers, the degree of political parallelism between media and politics and media regulation measures. Furthermore, the political system is to be described, including elements of direct democracy, the role of populist parties and the diversity of the political landscape. Finally, indicators for journalistic culture are to be determined. These include the degree to which journalism has been academized and the prevailing interpretation of the role of journalism. At the meso level of media providers, indicators for the underlying business models, the number and qualifications of active journalists, the overarching “mission” and the institutionalization of editorial independence and quality management are compiled.

2. Audiences: Media quality as a potential source of public communication requires certain patterns of media consumption to become a real resource for opinion-forming and democracy; even the highest-quality media would be ineffective if it had no audience. To determine how various population groups integrate media outlets of greater or lesser quality into their media repertoires, indicators are compiled that, at the macro level, provide insight into reach, duration of consumption and the market shares of various types of outlets and the degree of fragmentation among the audience. At the meso level, the corresponding indicators for individual media providers and outlets are compiled.

These indicators for contexts and audiences are then combined with the findings from the content analysis work packages and compared at an international level, thus elucidating the conditions that determine media quality as well as how specific population groups make use of it. This provides the foundation for conclusions to be made about the role of media in democracy in the three countries examined in this study.