Communication Strategies of EU Reporting: The Case of Adopting the European Union New Financial Perspective in Slovenia

Wien

2007

21 S.

zahlr. Lit. Ang.

Bandaufführung

143700

This paper analyses communication strategies of coverage of topics concerning the European Union (EU), specifically coverage of a new EU financial perspective discussion by Slovenian media. A textually oriented critical discourse analysis was used in order to find the journalistic strategies of news texts and to understand the selection of sources by specific Slovenian news media. In-depth interviews with journalits and their main sources were carried out in order to explain why journalists had used these strategies. The study reveals differences in the EU coverage between elite and tabloid, and pro-govemment and opposition news media. Pro-government news media rely on government sources and exclude critical sources, background information and interpretations. Additional source-centred analyses, unlike previous studies in this area, show that this discourse is not based only on journalistic practices, but is also a reflection of government and party communication strategies. Domestication of EU topics is used to promote government and party politics; this leads to a further democratic deficit in the EU.