Different Media Systems, Different Patterns of Interest Group Access? Interest Groups in the Media in Denmark the UK and Spain

Mediatisation of politics has made the media arena more important for groups pursuing political influence (Bernhagen & Trani, 2012; Binderkrantz, 2012). A prominent media presence provides an opportunity to affect or even shape the political agenda and influence the content of ongoing debates as well as political decisions. Investigating the patterns of interest group appearance in the media is therefore crucial to understanding power relations in democratic societies. The number of interest groups seeking access to the media far exceeds what can be reported upon. In the selection process, where some groups gain attention and others are ignored, variables at different levels are important. Group resources as well as factors related to the functioning of the media are important in determining group access to the media. Notably, these factors may vary across countries. Hallin and Mancini have pointed to the existence of three overall models of media and politics: the democratic corporatist system, the liberal system and the poliarized pluralist system (Hallin & Mancini, 2004). This paper investigates the distribution of media attention to interest groups within three countries each representing one of these models: Denmark, the United Kingdom and Spain. All interest groups appearing in two newspapers of different politic leanings in 26 weeks have been registered. We analyze how variation at the country level affects concentration in media access and the relative attention given to different types of groups. Bernhagen, Patrick & B. Trani (2012). "Interest group mobilization and lobbying patterns in Britain: A newspaper analysis", Interest Groups and Advocacy, 1, 1, pp. 48-66. Binderkrantz, Anne S. (2012). "Interest Groups in the Media. Bias and Diversity over Time", European Journal of Political Research, 51, 1, pp. 117-39. Hallin, Daniel C. & Paolo Mancini (2004). Comparing Media Systems. Three Models of Media and Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.