Where can European citizens find public information and debate about political matters of common concern? In the absence of strong pan-European media the national news media prove critical for the emergence of a European public sphere. But are political debates in the national media more Europeanized today than they were two decades ago? And if so, do national media merely look to Brussels more nowadays or are they also debating issues across national borders more intensely? Are national discourses converging over time in the issues, opinions, arguments and Identity elements they carry?

This book presents the first long-term study of the transnationalization of national public discourses in five European countries, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis of broadsheet newspapers, the authors uncover the as yet nationally segmented character of Europeanization in the media and identify the factors that foster and inhibit it. In conclusion, they provide an original normative appraisal of the levels and patterns of Europeanization achieved to date.

The book will prove important to students of media and communication, political science, European studies and anybody interested in the media’s contribution to bringing Europeans closer to each other.

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Review
Rooke, Richard (2009) in: Journal of Common Market Studies 47:2, 437-438.