How Media Contribute to Young Citizen s Formation of Orientations towards the EU Mag. Dr. Christina Ortner University of Salzburg, Austria Paper presented at the European Communication Conference (ECC), Lisbon, November 13th, 2014
Introduction Media are important for political communication and socialisation. This is true for different political levels including the European. In a system of multi-level governance young citizens must develop positions towards national as well as European politics. As a main source of information on European affairs media are of notable relevance in this context. There are some studies exploring the impact of media coverage or choice on existing attitudes of the adult population. How orientations towards the EU are developed in the course of mediated experiences while growing up has not been analysed yet.
Research Focus Media Experiences Firsthand Experiences Radio etc. Books TV Orientations towards the EU etc. Interpersonal Experiences Educational Experiences etc. Newspaper Magazines Online etc.
The Concept of Orientations Individual patterns of everything people have in their mind with respect to a specific object (Niedermayer/Westle 1995: 44). Involvement Evaluations Cognitive Affective Assessmentsof the EU Degree of interest, degree of knowledge Degree of emotionality based on concrete emotions, information and perceptions Niedermayer, Oskar/Westle, Bettina (1995): A TypologyofOrientations. In: Niedermayer, Oskar/Sinnott, Richard (Eds.): Public Opinion and Internationalized Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 33-50.
The Formation of Orientations Political orientations as developmental task Forming orientations towards the EU is part of becoming a politically mature citizen in a transnational democracy Forming orientations through experience-based learning Orientations towards the EU are developed and revised in a circular process on the basis of concrete experiences Reconsidering the context of everyday life Orientations and Experiences with the EU are rooted in everyday life and influenced by patterns of daily action and lifeworldy conditions
Research Design Standardised Online-Survey Sample: 274 respondents from all over Austria Scope: key aspects and selected context information Aim: screening, extending the number of participants Problem-Centred Interviews Sample: 30 selected interview partner Scope: various aspects and contexts Aim: subjective meaning, in depth analysis, exploration March April May June July August 2010
Results Overview Part I: Orientations towards the EU Part III: Typologies Patterns of orientations Part IV: Theoretical Model Part II: The role of media experiences Repertoires of experiences
EU Media Contacts School and family are important for the first contact, media for the later Seldom young adults actively follow European affairs in the media Own initiative is not necessary to regularly get in touch with the EU But: Information seeking and frequency of media contacts correlate If I read the newspaper I need not read carefully there is always something on the EU. (Alexander, 27) How often do you comeacross the EU in the media? (n=268) 35% 49% 7% 6% 15% 58% How often do you search for information about the EU? (n=273) 30% Often Sometimes Seldom Never
EU Media Sources Young adults mainly come across the EU in information media, in particular in the daily news in papers, on TV and online. Newspapers Kronenzeitung(boulevard), less often quality newspapers Television Mainly news casts, political magazines, talks at ORF(PSB) Online orf.at, newspapers, search engines, Wikipedia, EU websites I read the letters to the editor in the Krone. [ ] Everyone hates the EU, everyone is writing that. (Georg, 25) You type it in at Googleor Wikipediaand here we go! You come to thousands of sites were you can check things out. (Max, 22)
As I am rarely concerned with the EU in my daily life, I only get to know what is in the newspapers. (Edith, 27) Relevance of Media Experiences How important are the following sources for the knowledge/opinion you have about the EU? 90 80 70 60 50 40 Figures in % 77 80 74 76 68 68 68 65 63 56 58 51 30 20 10 0 Education (n=256) Internet (n=258) Newspaper (n=258) TV (n=256) Private talk (n=252) Radio (n=260) (Very) important for knowledge (Very) important for opinion
Gratifications of Media Experiences Young adults perceive media as helpful for forming orientations towards the EU because they... inform about what s currently going on give an overview of various aspects point to relevant issues make available extensive information allow insights in diverse opinions deliver new arguments provide topics for political talk On the internet you get to know a lot. I think, if you search for it, you can find everything. (Sara, 30) From time to time there are very competent people on the TV [ ] who know what they are talking about. Some of them I see as opinion leaders I can trust in. (Benedikt, 29)
Problems of Understanding Interviewees with little prior knowledge often perceive media coverage as confusing, mistrust media information and face problems in reflecting and evaluating them. You don t know who are these people and who is doing what. There are only lots of terms you cannot make much sense of. (Anna, 26) Everything is painted in black and white. You don t know what you should believe in. One expert is saying this, the other one that. (Georg, 25) In fact, it is easy to manipulate me. They argue so convincing [...] that I think everyone is right is some way. (Carsten, 23) Nevertheless, some of them strongly rely on media when forming orientations towards the EU.
Contextual Factors LIFEWORLDY CONDITIONS PATTERNS OF DAILY ACTION General patterns of Patterns of using Political media usage information media Engagement EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES MEDIA EXPERIENCES INTERPERSONAL EXPERIENCES FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCES Field of Education Social Field Field of Work Living Place
Further Information Mag. Dr. Christina Ortner Lecturer at the University of Salzburg and the Universities of Applied Science Salzburg and Hagenberg christina.ortner@sbg.ac.at
ATTACHMENT
Sample Online-Survey n=274 Federal state Occupational field (open question) Year of birth Gender Burgenland 12 (4%) Bank, insurance 7 (3%) 1980 22 (6%) Male 169 (62%) Carinthia 7 (3%) Education 29 (11%) 1981 37 (14%) Female 105 (38%) Salzburg 89 (33%) Sale, tourism 22 (8%) 1982 33 (12%) Educational level Lower Austria 14 (5%) Art, culture, publishing 9 (3%) 1983 32 (12%) Primary 73 (27%) Upper Austria 90 (33%) Agriculture, forestry 3 (1%) 1984 24 (9%) Secondary 111 (41%) Styria 17 (6%) Cleaning, caretaking 4 (1%) 1985 25 (9%) Tertiary 85 (31%) Tyrol 6 (2%) Law, politics 10 (4%) 1986 23 (8%) Urbanisation Vorarlberg 0 (0%) Social and health care 22 (8%) 1987 24 (9%) City 94 (32%) Vienna 21 (8%) Engineering, production 36 (13%) 1988 24 (9%) Small city 64 (23%9 Employment status Public transport 5 (2%) 1989 31 (11%) Countryside 113 (41%) Employed 193 (70%) Administration 72 (26%) The percentages refer to Migration background Student 63 (23%) Marketing, PR, journalism 28 (10%) No 231 (84%) Unemployed 14 (5%) Science, research 9 (3%) Yes 34 (12%) Other 4 (1%) Other 26 (9%) n=274.. Some questions were not answered by all participants. Therefore, the sum of the percentages is not necessarily 100.
Sample Qualitative Interviews n=30 Educational groups All Tertiary (10) Secondary (10) Primary(10) Gender Male 5 4 7 16 Female 5 6 3 14 Age From-to 25-28 22-30 21-26 21-30 Urbanisation City 6 2 3 11 Employment status Small City 3 3 1 7 Countryside 1 5 6 12 Employed 7 8 6 21 Student 2 2 0 4 Unemployed 1 0 2 3 Other 0 0 2 2 Occupational field Bank, insurance 1 Law, politics 4 Administration 5 Education 2 Engineering, production 9 Marketing, PR, journalism 3 Sale, tourism 2 Public transport 2 Science, research 2