Leidecker-Sandmann, Melanie

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1 | 3https://doi.org/10.34778/2g © 2021, the authors. This work is licensed under the “Creative Commons Attribution –  NonCommercial – NoDerivatives 4.0 International” license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)AUTHOR Melanie Leidecker-SandmannKEYWORDSnews factors, events, elections, actors, celebrities, reporting style, visibility, characteristicsBRIEF DESCRIPTIONThe term personalization refers to a news factor and to a tendency of media coverage. Personal-ization as a news factor means that topics and events, where individuals act respectively are affected by actions or events are more likely to become news than topics and events that cannot be portrayed as actions of individuals. A perso-nalized reporting style puts destinies of indivi-duals (and celebrities) in the foreground and/or connects topics and events on personal stories of individuals. As a tendency of media coverage, personalization means an increasing orienta-tion towards (prominent) people (e.g., Blöbaum, 2013; Galtung & Ruge, 1965; Handstein, 2016).FIELD OF APPLICATION/THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONPersonalization is widely analyzed in commu-nication science. Probably most often personal-ization (as a news factor) is analyzed in news value studies respectively studies that analyze journalistic news selection criteria. Furthermo-re, personalization as a concept is a considerable issue in political communication research. Here, personalization means that, on the one hand, individual politicians (for example election cam-paign candidates) are becoming increasingly important in the context of political communi-cation (e.g., Rahat & Sheafer, 2007; Van Aelst et al., 2012), whereas less emphasis is being placed on parties, political institutions and/or political issues and content. This form of personalization is also referred to as ‘individualization’. On the other hand, personalization also means that, in order to describe and evaluate individual poli-ticians, apolitical characteristics, i.e., their per-sonal characteristics and their personal life, are becoming increasingly relevant in political com-munication and election coverage. This aspect is also known as ‘privatization’ (e.g., Adam & Maier, 2010; Kriesi, 2012; Van Aelst et al., 2012). In principle, personalization can be analyzed in almost all subject areas, for example also in sci-ence communication, sports coverage and many more.REFERENCES/COMBINATION WITH OTHER  METHODS OF DATA COLLECTIONThe analysis of personalization in media cover-age may be combined or compared with (quan-titative and/or qualitative) journalist surveys on news selection and processing. Furthermore, in-put-output-analyses (for example by comparing press releases and media coverage) are possible as well as experimental studies that analyze the potential effects of a personalized style of news coverage on recipients.EXAMPLE The concept of personalization lacks an agreed-upon operationalization. Van Aelst et al. (2012) review relevant studies in the field of political communication research and make some recom-mendations for how the concept might be opera-tionalized for content analyses of, for example, election (campaign) coverage. These recommen-dations are cited below. Personalization (Election Campaign Coverage) 2 | 3Coding instructions (direct quotation) by Van Aelst et al. (2012, pp. 219-220):IndividualizationGeneral visibility (shift from parties to individual politicians)The relative attention for politicians compared to the total amount of attention for political actors (politicians vs parties; government ministers vs the government).Attention scores: count the total number of re-ferences to individual politicians (or candidates, ministers) and parties (government) within the unit of analysis (e.g. article, paragraph, and sen-tence):1 How many times is a political party (or govern-ment, institution) mentioned within the unit of analysis?2 How many times is a politician mentioned wit-hin the unit of analysis?Additional similar categories can be inserted if the researcher is interested in several specific politicians, parties, institutions or types of poli-ticians, parties or institutions. Note that the to-tal number of references to a certain actor can easily be reduced to binary codes (presence or absence).Concentrated visibility (shift from parties to lea-ders)The relative attention on leaders compared to the total amount of attention on political actors (lea-ders vs parties; PM/President vs government).Attention scores: count the total number of refe-rences to party leaders (or candidates for highest position, PM/President) and parties (govern-ment) within the unit of analysis. The coding ca-tegory of leaders is similar to that of other politi-cians, but it refers to leaders.PrivatizationThe characteristics of politiciansWe have argued for the inclusion of the following set of characteristics in personalization studies: competence, leadership, credibility, morality, rhetorical skills, and candidates’ appearance. Each characteristic has two coding categories: one allows coding the unit of analysis as presen-ting the characteristic as political (the characte-ristic is presented in a political context or not); and a second category allows coding it as presen-ting the characteristic as personal (the characte-ristic is presented in a personal context or not). The political context refers to all statements and actions made in the political arena (e.g. in parlia-ment, on campaign, during EU-summit) or expli-citly related to the public role of the politician. The personal context refers to all statements and actions made outside the political arena (e.g. on vacation, at a family gathering) or experiences before going into politics.1. Is the characteristic of ‘competence’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a political context? For example: the leader does not understand the office he or she is responsi-ble for. (1 = no; 2 = yes)2. Is the characteristic of ‘competence’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: the leader is a poor mother or father. (1 = no; 2 = yes)3. Is the characteristic of ‘leadership’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a political context? For example: the leader failed to rally his or her party behind him or her. (1 = no; 2 = yes)4. Is the characteristic of ‘leadership’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: was the leader seen as a natural person in command in his/her youth by classmates. (1 = no; 2 = yes)5. Is the characteristic of ‘credibility’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a political context? For example: a broken promise by the candidate in the previous elections, say on lower taxes. (1 = no; 2 = yes)6. Is the characteristic of ‘credibility’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: the leader is criticized by a family member for not keeping his or her promises to spend more time with his/her family. (1 = no; 2 = yes)7. Is the characteristic of ‘morality’ mentioned within the unit of analysis in a political con-text? For example: an investigation against the leader for accepting bribes or undermi-ning the career of a rival. (1 = no; 2 = yes)8. Is the characteristic of ‘morality’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: the leader was caught cheating on his or her spouse. (1 = no; 2 = yes)9. Is the characteristic of ‘rhetorical skills’ men-tioned within the unit of analysis in a poli-tical context? For example: a reference to a great speech by the leader in parliament. (1  3 | 3= no; 2 = yes)10. Is the characteristic of ‘rhetorical skills’ mentioned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: a reference to a great speech by the leader in a private ceremony or to one made before he or she entered politics. (1 = no; 2 = yes)11. Is the characteristic of ‘appearance’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a political context? For example: a reference to the ‘pre-sidential appearance’ of the candidate. (1 = no; 2 = yes)12. Is the characteristic of ‘appearance’ mentio-ned within the unit of analysis in a personal context? For example: a reference to the past of the leader as a winner of a beauty pageant. (1 = no; 2 = yes)Categories can be repeated for specific parties, institutions and politicians.Personal life of politiciansDoes the unit of analysis contain references to one of these indicators:1. Family life. This includes family relation-ships and all aspects of domestic life. (1 = no; 2 = yes)2. Past life or upbringing. This includes all bio-graphical information. (1 = no; 2 = yes)3. Leisure time. This includes all information on hobbies, vacations, and recreational acti-vities. (1 = no; 2 = yes)4. Love life. This includes all information on se-xual relationships, marriage and divorce. (1 = no; 2 = yes)This list can of course vary according to indica-tors selected. It is possible to code these indica-tors at the level of a specific politician (e.g. for the two main candidates).REFERENCESAdam, S. & Maier, M. (2010). Personalization of politics: A critical review and agenda for re-search. Communication Yearbook, 34(1), 213-257. DOI: 10.1080/23808985.2010.11679101Blöbaum, B. (2013). Personalisierung. In G. Bentele, H.-B. Brosius, & O. Jarren (Eds.), Lexikon Kommunikations- und Medienwis-senschaft (2., überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage) (p. 367). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.Galtung, J., & Ruge, M.H. (1965). The struc-ture of foreign news. The presenta-tion of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus crises in four Norwegian newspapers. Journal of Peace Research, 2(1), 64-91.Handstein, H. (2016). Personalisierung. Jour-nalistikon. Das Wörterbuch der Journalis-tik. Retrieved March 27, 2020, from http://journalistikon.de/personalisierung/Kriesi, H. (2012). Personalization of national election campaigns. Par-ty Politics, 18(6), 825-844.Rahat, G., & Sheafer, T. (2007). The perso-nalization(s) of politics: Israel, 1949-2003. Political Communication, 24, 65-80.Van Aelst, P., Sheafer, T., & Stanyer, J. (2012). The personalization of mediated poli-tical communication: A review of con-cepts, operationalizations and key fin-dings. Journalism, 13(2), 203-220.

Personalization (Election Campaign Coverage)

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Personalization (Election Campaign Coverage)

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