THREATPIE: The Threats and Potentials of a Changing Political Information Environment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southern Denmark
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
This project examines how the current changes in the political information environments in
European democracies affect the conditions for a healthy democracy. As a theoretical
background we employ the concept of ‘political information environment’ (PIE) that includes both
the supply and demand of political news and information. Supply refers to the quantity and
quality of news and public affairs content provided through traditional and new media sources,
demand captures the amount and type of news and information the public wants or consumes.
Recent changes in the political information environment may lead to a growing number of
uniformed, misinformed and selectively informed citizens, potentially endangering the
functioning of democracy. To examine these concerns, the study aims at investigating the
following: (1) how do citizens today gain political information and how does this relate to their
political attitudes and behaviour; (2) what is the content and quality of the information citizens
are exposed to; (3) where do divides between being informed and not being informed exist,
across and within European societies, and (4) how can citizens be empowered to navigate and
find valuable information. We will do this through a series of comparative, innovatively designed
studies, including web tracking, comparative surveys, focus groups and survey-embedded
experiments in 14 European countries and the US. These countries vary on a number of key
contextual factors relevant for the study, covering both “young” and established democracies
with different democratic traditions, media systems, and news consumption habits.
European democracies affect the conditions for a healthy democracy. As a theoretical
background we employ the concept of ‘political information environment’ (PIE) that includes both
the supply and demand of political news and information. Supply refers to the quantity and
quality of news and public affairs content provided through traditional and new media sources,
demand captures the amount and type of news and information the public wants or consumes.
Recent changes in the political information environment may lead to a growing number of
uniformed, misinformed and selectively informed citizens, potentially endangering the
functioning of democracy. To examine these concerns, the study aims at investigating the
following: (1) how do citizens today gain political information and how does this relate to their
political attitudes and behaviour; (2) what is the content and quality of the information citizens
are exposed to; (3) where do divides between being informed and not being informed exist,
across and within European societies, and (4) how can citizens be empowered to navigate and
find valuable information. We will do this through a series of comparative, innovatively designed
studies, including web tracking, comparative surveys, focus groups and survey-embedded
experiments in 14 European countries and the US. These countries vary on a number of key
contextual factors relevant for the study, covering both “young” and established democracies
with different democratic traditions, media systems, and news consumption habits.
