Do Politicians Knowingly Create Conflict to Gain Media Attention?: How Politicians Navigate a Mediatized Environment Characterized by Negativity and Conflict

2025/01/10 by Emma van der Goot, Toni G.L.A. van der Meer, Michael Hameleers +1 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Social Media and Politics #Media Studies and Communication #Electoral Systems and Political Participation

paper · doi:10.1177/10776990241312150

openalex publication_date 2025/01/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26

Abstract

Given the importance of negativity and conflict in political news, it is assumed that politicians strategically seek conflict or emphasize negativity to secure media coverage. Existing research investigating politicians’ self-mediatization relies on surveys or content analyses, and we have, therefore, little in-depth insight into how politicians navigate the news media’s strong focus on conflict and negativity. Addressing this gap, we conducted 31 interviews with Dutch MPs. Our findings reveal that while MPs recognize the media’s impact on the political realm and fellow politicians, their own adaptation to the media’s preference for negativity and conflict is a strategic and deliberate choice.

Citations

• Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria
• "Mediatization" of Politics: A Challenge for Democracy?
• Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States
• The Third-Person Effect in Communication
• The Structure of Foreign News

Cited by

• Beyond a Negativity Bias: Explaining the Consumption of Positive and Negative Political Information Using WebTracking and Experience Sampling Data

Discussions

• Do politicians create conflict for media attention? Van der Goot, van der Meer, Hameleers & Vliegenthart conducted 31 interviews with Dutch MPs to explore how they strategically engage with negativity [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

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