Media coverage on European governance - Exploring the European public sphere in national quality newspapers

The conditions for the emergence of a European mediated public sphere are tested in this article by analysing news coverage of European governance and policy-making during the year 2000. The sample includes 11 daily newspapers from six EU member states. On the basis of a systematic content analysis, three types of news can be distinguished: first, European news characterized by the shared meaning of European events and issues; second, Europeanized news characterized by the secondary impact of European events and issues on national news coverage; and third, national news on domestic events and issues characterized by evolving forms of European monitoring and rhetorics. By unfolding and comparing these three cases, the article argues that a European public sphere has come into existence and that it has evolved through the mutual observation of institutional actors and their audiences with reference to issues and events of common relevance and through the parallel development of communicative styles and discourses.