Rethinking Political Communication in a Time of Disrupted Public Spheres

TLDR

Political communication in many democracies is increasingly disconnected from press and political institutions because of the hollowing of center parties and widening social divides. The study calls for rethinking normative assumptions about media systems and press‑politics interactions, proposing new research frameworks that emphasize disrupted public spheres and better measure social media’s political influence. The authors propose redefining core concepts—gatekeeping, framing, indexing, agenda‑setting, and media effects—to reflect disrupted media‑public‑institution relations and to better capture social media’s political influence.

Abstract

Political communication in many democracies reflects the disconnection of publics from institutions of press and politics due to the hollowing of center parties and growing social divides. It is time to rethink assumptions—long grounded in idealized normative conceptions of democratic politics—about media systems and press/politics interactions. A proposed reformulation of research frameworks puts more focus on the implications of disrupted public spheres in interaction with and beyond the traditional media. This rethinking also entails better conceptualization and measurement of the political influences of information flows from social media and digital networks. Reformatting the field involves changing such core concepts as gatekeeping, framing, indexing, agenda-setting, and media effects in light of disrupted relations among media, publics, and democratic institutions.