PERSONAL QUESTIONS, POLITICAL ANSWERS

Abstract

This article examines personalization in political newspaper interviews in three quality newspapers in Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands between 1990 and 2010. Building upon Van Aelst, Sheafer, and Stanyer (2012), personalization is broken down into individualization and privatization. Individualization refers to an increased focus on individual politicians, whereas privatization presupposes more emphasis on their private life, personality, and character. A quantitative content analysis and a qualitative textual analysis show that on both counts, personalization seems to have increased across 1990–2010. Individualization clearly occurred, as did privatization but to a lesser extent. The private lives of politicians were often ignored and if they were mentioned, it was usually in an instrumental way. The implicit assumption that personalization is detrimental to the power of a political source, as is often made in empirical research, should be revised. The results indicate a strategic use of personalization by politicians, which leaves the power balance between journalists and their sources on an even keel.

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