Social elites: media consumption and media strategies: The case of Norway

Elite integration is a core issue in research on social and political elites. Even so, the low attention to modes of communication among elites is remarkable. It seems to be a common assumption that elite groups primarily communicate internally via personal encounters, be it by common membership of boards or in professional organizations. This may to some extent be realistic for internal communication in specific elite groups. But for communication – and integration – across elite groups, encounters must necessarily take place via media. Information about crucial social and political questions media are at any rate a prerequisite for their activities, for elite members as for large parts of the population. However, media are just as important for communication between different types of elites, who normally are not in close contact. Finally, media are important for elites to distribute their views to the population at large. In the years following the turn of the century, the structure of communication changed dramatically all over modern societies. In parallel, several crucial changes took place: a dramatic expansion of social media; growing importance of media strategies, both in the private and public sectors; deterioration to a large extent of the traditional media channels. To which extent these events affect elite integration and the relationship of elites to the population, is the basic question that the paper aims to answer. The study is based on two large surveys covering Norwegian elites in 2000 and 2015. The surveys are of a unique quality, with response rates of 87 and 72 respectively. Respondents are the top strata of ten different elite groups, ranging from the economy to cultural life, from politics to civil society organizations; N = 1725 and 1351. In both surveys a large set of questions cover media consumption and media strategies in the elites, among others trust in the media, uses of various news channels, strategies of information to the public, effects of media agendas. Data for the population are the regular Election Surveys, conducted every fourth year in the aftermath of parliamentary elections. Findings indicate that the elites became considerably more active in their media strategies during the first 15 years of the century. At the same time, the differences widened between the elites and the population. Changes in media use was more marked in the population than it was in the elites. These results invite discussions of traditional theories of deterioration of the public sphere.