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The International Journal of Press/Politics
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What's the Fuss About? The Interplay of Media Hypes and Politics

Christian Elmelund-Præstekær

Department of Political Science and Public Management, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark, cel{at}sam.sdu.dk

Charlotte Wien

University of Southern Denmark, chw{at}sam.sdu.dk

Media hypes on social problems occur on a regular basis and they seem to generate a lot of political activity. This article asks the question whether media hypes have any influence on public policies central issue of the hype—and if any, what kind of influence? Five media hypes on the same subject area (the care for and spending on the elderly) are analyzed.Their immediate influence on policy making is traced, and although the media often is assumed to exercise real political power through media hypes, no—or only few—traces of such direct political influence is found. Instead media hypes are used strategically by politicians to forward their ongoing work and their positions in the public debate, thus if the media gains political influence because of media hypes one can only see this influence as diffuse and not directly linked to the media hypes themselves.

Key Words: media hype • media power • welfare policy • policy making • news making

The International Journal of Press/Politics, Vol. 13, No. 3, 247-266 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1940161208319292
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