Political news is a representation of the activities and relations of collective actors, such as politicians and other public officials, parties, social movements, interest groups, and citizens. It includes their verbal behavior – statements, accusations, denials and other statements of intent or fact.
The majority of people in modern democracies follow political affairs through the media on a daily basis. But their intensity of use and the amount of information they extract from it vary considerably, depending on age, education and previous political knowledge.
While the vast majority of people get their election news from television, the number who rely on the internet has doubled since 2000. These online political news consumers are able to delve into the long tail of media content and are more likely to seek out sites that have an overtly partisan point of view.
In general, it is a good idea to treat political stories in the same way as all other news articles. This means reporting the factual details of any measure or decision, and also presenting the different opinions on it. It’s often difficult to achieve balance when writing political news, however. Because of this, a lot of outlets – particularly those that would previously have been considered to be ‘tabloid’ – tend to focus on sensational headlines and personality politics, appealing to the audience’s emotions rather than their intellect.
In this context, civic journalism has recently been re-appeared as an attractive philosophy for those who believe that it’s the best method for the media to engage with its audience. But it is important to ensure that the focus on this topic does not compromise the integrity of the news and its presentation, as well as to remember that a good piece of political news needs to be both interesting and reliable.
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