Rediscovering Europe in the Netherlands - St Antony's College ...

ediscovering europe in the netherlands
willing to dedicate any time to political and social objectives (Dahlgren
2003: 163). Secondly, those who are politically and socially active on the
Internet are often the same people who are assertive and politically
committed in other ‘arenas’. As Margolis and Resnick (2000: 14) observe:
‘There is an extensive political life on the Net, but this is mostly an extension
of political life off the Net’. The perceived complexity of the European
policy process moreover acts as a barrier to involvement, especially as long
as politicians still have difficulty in developing an appealing communicative
discourse on Europe.
6.5 conclusion
146
Compared to other member states, media coverage of eu issues is relatively
low in the Netherlands, although the attention for Europe on television has
increased slightly, especially in recent years (De Vreese 2001, 2007). Politicians
in the Netherlands approach eu policies in a way that does not
encourage the media to extend their coverage. Thus, Dutch eu policy is
barely visible to the public and will remain highly unfamiliar to most citizens
as long as politicians continue to depoliticise eu issues and allow
them to be dominated by a small group of specialists from the Brussels and
national policy ‘cocoons’. eu issues seldom meet the criteria for newsworthiness.
Moreover, the scarce coverage that does find its way into the media
is often one-sidedly focused on negative aspects such as fraud and bureaucracy.
News editors also tend to regard Europe as a specialism, which
therefore does not warrant integral journalistic treatment. As Europe is
insufficiently embedded in the Dutch political and social system, it does
not make for interesting news and the public are consequently provided
with virtually no information. This makes for a vicious circle that is difficult
to break.
Nevertheless, opportunities for the media to contribute to the legitimacy
of eu policy do exist. The Dutch public are relatively poorly and onesidedly
informed on Europe, but they seem to increasingly feel the need for
more and better information. In principle, therefore, there is indeed a
demand for news on European issues. The media is expected to respond to
that need, provided they are able to frame eu issues to fit relevant frameworks
of responsibilities, the direct relevance to citizens, the focus on individuals,
etc. Politicians are crucial in this respect. They are the ones that
can make Dutch eu policy more visible, create a certain degree of familiarity
with it and provide adequate incentives for the media to be a forum for
public opinion formation and to be a watchdog in the Dutch-European
policy process. Politicians and media have become more and more dependent
on each other. Politicians and political parties increasingly compete via