par Sobotova, Alena
Référence 10th International Conference in Interpretive Policy Analysis (8-10 July 2015: Lille, France)
Publication Non publié, 2015-07-10
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : The paper is focusing on news gathering practices by Brussels press corps that involve European institutions as news sources. It looks in particular at correspondents’ preferences in terms of source selection. Our aim is to understand the political equilibria between main EU institutions as far as their ability to reach journalists is concerned. The topic of this paper is deeply rooted in political science. Indeed, choosing one institutional source over another may point at an overall shift in the distribution of power in Brussels and in the EU. Any change in source selection may be seen as a concretization of a deeper political transformation where journalists can act both as witnesses and as triggers of change. The main question we are addressing is the following : How is the institutional balance of the EU perceived by and reflected in the daily work of Brussels media correspondents? Is there any propensity to be in stronger contact with one institution than others and why? Which institutions are seen as most active source of information by the correspondents ? Which one is perceived as most accessible ? To answer those questions a series of semi-directed interviews has been conducted with both Brussels-based journalists coming mainly from new Member States. So far, the European Parliament has been seen as a relatively minor player in the European communication game (see ANDERSON&MacLEOD 2004, or for a less pessimistic analysis LAURSEN 2014), compared to the Council/European council (CORNIA&LONNENDONKER&NITZ 2008, LAURSEN 2012, LAURSEN&VALENTINI 2013) and European Commission (BAISNEE 2001, BASTIN 2004, PAVY 2003, LECHELER, BRUGGEMANN 2010). However, there might be some transformations underway. While the Commission seems to lose its privileged position it has held for years thanks to the long-lasting tradition of daily Midday Briefings, recent events point at a shift in favor of the European Parliament, as an institution which is formally gaining power since the Lisbon treaty.