Conclusion: Tensions and disruptions in mediated politics

Abstract

In this concluding chapter, Ekström and Firmstone reflect on the findings of individual chapters to consider the overall consequences for the five key questions explored by the study: 1) How are tensions and disruptions in European politics discursively constructed and negotiated in broadcast media across countries? 2) How is politics represented and communicated through different journalistic practices and media discourse; genres, styles and narratives of reporting, forms of interviewing, etc.? 3) How are citizens represented, talked about, talked to, and invited to participate with their own voices in the media? 4) What constitutes the mediated performances of mainstream and populist political leaders, and how do politicians meet the various challenges of political communication at the particular moment in time? 5) How are the relationships between journalists, politicians and citizens discursively constructed and negotiated in television news and current affairs across countries? The chapter concludes by presenting the benefits of the comparative approach to qualitative discourse analysis of political communication developed by the authors and suggesting directions for future research.