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Project

The Threats and Potentials of a Changing Political Information Environment (THREATPIE)

This project examines how the current changes in the political information environments in European democracies affect the conditions for a healthy democracy and civil society. As a theoretical background we employ the concept of 'political information environment' that includes both the supply and demand of political news and information. Supply refers to the quantity and quality of news and public affairs content provided through traditional and new media sources, demand deals with the amount and type of news and information the public wants or is able to consume. In particular, the study aims at investigating the following: (1) how do citizens gain political information in the complex media environment, what are their attitudes toward information sources, and what is the relationship between these attitudes and political attitudes and behaviour; (2) what is the content and quality of information citizens are exposed to; (3) where do divides between being informed and not being informed exist, across and within European societies, and (4) how can citizens be equipped to navigate and find new and valuable information. We will do this through a series of comparative, innovatively designed studies, including web tracking, comparative surveys, focus groups and survey-imbedded experiments in 15 countries: Germany, Spain, Poland, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Romania, and the US. These countries vary on a number of key contextual factors relevant for the study, covering "young" and "new" democracies with different political heritages, democratic traditions, media systems, and news consumption habits.
Date:1 Dec 2020 →  30 Nov 2023
Keywords:MEDIA AND POLITICS, MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY, EXPERIMENTAL, INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR
Disciplines:Political communication, Public opinion, Digital media, Media audience research