From Interactions to the Mediatization of Politics. How the Relationships Between Journalists and Political Actors Explain Media Influences on Political Processes and the Presentation of Politics

The goal of this paper is to explain media impact on politics by focusing on characteristics of journalist-politician relationships. Based on the concept of political communication cultures, we present a model that assumes that four dimensions of a political communication culture affect media influences on the presentation of politics and on political processes. These characteristics of the journalist-politician relationships are assumed to depend on the competitive structures of a city's media and political system. To test this model, we selected four German cities with extreme competitive structures. Our findings, based on 31 interviews with political actors and journalists, show that a stronger media impact on political processes can be traced back to more proximity, conflicts, and background conversations between both sides-a result of media competition in a city. A stronger media impact on the presentation of politics can be explained by a more responsive political communication culture -the result of a consensus-oriented political system.