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Euroscepticism, Democracy and the Media pp 49–72Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Spiral of Euroscepticism: Media Negativity, Framing and Opposition to the EU

Part of the Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology book series (PSEPS)

Abstract

Media scholars have increasingly examined the effects of a negativity bias that applies to political news. In the ‘spiral of cynicism’, journalist preferences for negative news correspond to public demands for sensational news. We argue that this spiral of cynicism in EU news results in a ‘spiral of Euroscepticism’, taking media autonomy seriously to understand how media logics and selective devices contribute to the shaping of public discourse about the EU. We review the literature on the media and EU legitimacy to show how media frames and their amplification on social media can account for the salience of Eurosceptic opinions in the public sphere that then push parties to contest the EU in predominantly negative terms.

Keywords

  • Euroscepticism
  • Media
  • Political cynicism
  • Negativity bias
  • Framing
  • Social media

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Charlotte Galpin & Hans-Jörg Trenz

  2. ARENA, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Hans-Jörg Trenz

Authors
  1. Charlotte Galpin
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  2. Hans-Jörg Trenz
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Correspondence to Charlotte Galpin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze, Italy

    Manuela Caiani

  2. University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Simona Guerra

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Galpin, C., Trenz, HJ. (2017). The Spiral of Euroscepticism: Media Negativity, Framing and Opposition to the EU. In: Caiani, M., Guerra, S. (eds) Euroscepticism, Democracy and the Media. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59643-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59643-7_3

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