Strategic Campaign Coverage, Public Opinion, and Mobilization in a Referendum

This study investigates the effects of exposure to strategic news coverage on political cynicism and campaign evaluations using a nationally representative two-wave panel study and a content analysis of the national news media coverage of the 2000 Danish referendum campaign on the introduction of the euro. The study shows (a) voters were generally cynical about the referendum campaign, (b) the level of political cynicism and negativity about the campaign increased during the campaign, and (c) exposure to news that reported about the campaign in terms of strategy contributed to an increase in political cynicism and negative campaign evaluations. Turnout, however, remained high, suggesting that strategic news coverage and political cynicism in the campaign did not diminish mobilization. The study suggests that the conclusions of previous research about the link between news, cynicism, and participation in U.S. elections need to be modified when other national and electoral contexts are considered. Decreasing trust in political institutions and increasing public cynicism about politics have led scholars to search for explanations in terms of social and cultural changes and developments in political parties and partisanship (e.g., Abramson & Aldrich, 1982; Miller, 1974; Nye, Zelikow, & King, 1997). The contents of campaign communication and political campaigning styles have also been blamed for driving some of these trends. Beginning with the “video-malaise” thesis (Robinson, 1976), several studies have focused on the role played by the media in undermining political trust and producing political cynicism (e.g., Hart, 1994). Patterson (1993), for example, argued that “election news, rather than serving to bring candidates and voters together, drives a wedge between them” (p. 52). Cappella and Jamieson (1997)