Personalization according to politicians: A practice theoretical analysis of mediatization

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Following the evolution towards media-saturated societies, this article presents practice theory as an alternative framework for mediatization studies. We discuss how it can help us grasp the diversity of social and cultural changes related to the highly integrated media. This is demonstrated by studying politicians' personalization, not as a product of media logic but by looking at politicians' media-related practices and media's anchoring of practices. Our in-depth interviews with Flemish politicians show that their practices are in many ways organized by the media, but through this mediatization at the same time aim to retain control over them. It is also shown that politicians' practices are not only directly influenced by media, but also by other politicians' media-related practices. Together, these findings draw a complex picture of the mediatization and personalization process.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCommunications
Volume35
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)309-326
Number of pages18
ISSN0341-2059
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sep 2010

    Research areas

  • in-depth interview, mediatization, personalization, politics, practice theory

ID: 324969790