The Politics-Media-Politics Principle: Towards A More Comprehensive Approach To Political Communication

This paper develops a theoretical framework labeled the Politics-Media-Politics (PMP) principle. The aim of this principle is to provide a conceptual foundation upon which to create a more comprehensive approach to explaining the role of the news media in political processes. The PMP principle is based on two central claims. First, the role of the media in political processes can best be understood as a cycle in which variations in the political environment lead to variations in media conduct that, in turn, lead to further variations in the political environment. Second, the media can play an independent role in political processes due to their ability to transform political realities into news stories that can at times have a significant impact on political outcomes. The discussion is divided into three main sections. The first section reviews some of the major theories in political communication that serve as building blocks for the PMP principle. The second section uses findings from a diverse range of studies to demonstrate the PMP principle’s usefulness. The third part of the paper presents some revealing exceptions to the PMP principle