European Elections after Eastern Enlargement

This article analyzes the news coverage of the 2004 European Parliamentary (EP) elections in all 25 member states of the European Union (EU). It provides a unique pan-European overview of the campaign coverage based on an analysis of three national newspapers and two television newscasts in the two weeks leading up to the elections. On average, the elections were more visible in the new 10 member states than in the 15 old EU member states. The political personalities and institutional actors featured in news stories about the elections were generally national political actors and not EU actors. When it was evaluative, the news in the old EU-15 was generally negative towards the EU, while in the new countries a mixed pattern was found. The findings of the study are discussed in the light of the literature on the EU’s legitimacy and communication deficit. 18 Claes H. de Vreese, Susan A. Banducci, Holli A. Semetko, and Hajo G. Boomgaarden