Appeals to the people:A content analysis of references to the people in traditional media, social media, and parliamentary materials

Political representation lies at the heart of representative democracy. In order to signal their connection to the people they are representing, politicians often refer to “the people.” In this study, we focus on how politicians refer to the people and how this varies across three main platforms of communication differing in access and formality: news media, social media, and the parliament. Through an in-depth content analysis of news articles, politicians’ social media posts and parliamentary speeches (N = 1668), we examine how Dutch politicians address the people in terms of “advocacy” for the people and in “opposition” to other actors; which politicians most commonly refer to the people; which communication platforms are predominantly used for this, and whether these references to the people vary across time. We find that references to the people did not differ between election and non-election years. Yet, parties and communication platform both play important roles: references to the people manifest themselves more frequently in social media and in communication from politicians from parties on the left as well as those scoring higher on the populism scale. We also find that there is little variation in advocative references to the people, while communication that includes oppositional references is more prominent among populist actors and those positioned on the political left

User Perceptions of News Recommender Systems and Trust in Media Outlets:A Five-Country Study

The study investigates user perceptions of news media’s employment of news recommender systems (NRS) and their relation to trust in media outlets. A cross-sectional survey (n = 5079) in the United Kingdom, United States, Poland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland shows that higher algorithmic knowledge, users’ perceived skills, and news aggregator use correspond to increased perceptions that news media use NRS. Moreover, higher perceived NRS use of specific news outlets is associated with lower trust in those outlets but perceived benefits and concerns related to NRS moderate this relationship. Our findings highlight the need for media organizations to ensure a responsible and transparent use of such systems, highlight benefits for users, and address concerns to avoid misperceptions of their NRS use and maintain user trust

News recommender systems: a programmatic research review

News recommender systems (NRS) are becoming a ubiquitous part of the digital media landscape. Particularly in the realm of political news, the adoption of NRS can significantly impact journalistic distribution, in turn affecting journalistic work practices and news consumption. Thus, NRS touch both the supply and demand of political news. In recent years, there has been a strong increase in research on NRS. Yet, the field remains dispersed across supply and demand research perspectives. Therefore, the contribution of this programmatic research review is threefold. First, we conduct a scoping study to review scholarly work on the journalistic supply and user demand sides. Second, we identify underexplored areas. Finally, we advance five recommendations for future research from a political communication perspective

On behalf of the people: The use of public opinion and the perception of “the people” in political communication strategies of Dutch MPs

This study investigates the role of public opinion for members of parliaments (MPs) in a time in which communication about the will of “the People” is high on the political agenda. By means of face-to-face elite interviews with Dutch MPs, we explore who politicians perceive as “the People,” how they assess “the will of the People,” and how this translates into their communication strategies. We find that MPs distinguish between listening to individual opinion, to understand what topics are at the forefront of “the People’s” minds, and taking political action considering a more general public. MPs are divided in their acceptance of the term “the People”—some find it useful, while others voice concerns over its antipluralistic implications. We find evidence of populist communication strategies in the form of references to public opinion across the political spectrum. Political communication is used for political marketing and to connect to the electorate. We conclude that Dutch MPs are not becoming more populist across the political spectrum, but rather that there is a tendency toward personalization and authenticity in political communication, which makes “normal” political communication appear more populist