State Functions and Media Politics: Case Study on Print Media in Slovenia

In: East European politics and societies: EEPS, Band 27, Heft 2, S. 333-349

Abstract

What is specific in the efforts of the Slovenian state institutions to handle the current economic, political, and cultural crisis in the country? The answer is searched for in the media representations of the building of a new government in February 2012. The analysis is focused on five major functions of modern states: security provision, regulation of macro-economy, administration, reproduction of human resources, and environmental protection. The source of primary information for the analysis and argumentation is the daily newspaper Delo (Labor). Relevant publications in the newspaper were differentiated by applying two criteria: first, predominant reference to one of the five functions of the state; second, if the article contains no alternative (1) or presents a strong alternative to a given situation, event or opinion related to the state functions (5) on a 5-point scale. The analysis identifies a large share of publications focusing on the administrative function of the state and rather limited share of publications on security issues and environmental protection. The analyzed publications contain only modest efforts to present and discuss alternatives to political situations and opinions. The hypothesis about alleged colonization of politics by mass media is falsified.