News that covers a political event or the behavior of individuals or groups with an impact on the public sphere.
Political news is a central topic of media and communication research. It is generally accepted that the picture of political reality depicted by the media, irrespective of whether it is true or false, accurate or distorted, neutral or biased, influences the behavior of individual citizens, societal groups, politicians and national governments.
It is also commonly agreed that the media play a crucial role in democratic societies as providers of information and forums for political debate. This is especially true for news concerning elections, as they provide an opportunity to judge political hopefuls and their ideas in a direct democratic process. Moreover, many people have a strong interest in politics and in the media, and may depend on them as their main source of information.
Unlike other types of news, political stories are often complex in nature, as they cover a variety of viewpoints. Therefore, it is essential to include a range of sources and avoid using biased language. Moreover, it is important to use plain language instead of jargon to avoid confusion.
Studies on political news are usually conducted by applying content analyses and other methods of media analysis. The goal of these studies is to characterize the news reporting in newspapers, magazines, radio and television channels, and news agencies. In addition, these analyses frequently seek to establish relationships between the reported political occurrences and their media audience, as well as between the political actors and their news reporting (e.g., propaganda, issues management, protest action).
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