An introduction to journalism norms and representations of politics

Abstract

In addition to providing an overview of this special issue of Political Communication, this introduction identifies a preliminary set of rules that journalists use for representing politics in the news. These rules guide news decisions in keeping with underlying journalistic norms about the workings of politics and the role of the press in the political system. Such political norms must also be reconciled with professional journalism norms of fairness, and with the economic norms of efficiency and profit that increasingly drive the news business. Reconciling news content aimed at citizens in a democracy with traditional journalism standards and entertainment values has transformed the news itself. Increasingly sensationalistic narratives and dramatic production values both bridge and reflect the tensions among the various norms and practical rules that guide journalists in their daily representations of the political world.