Political Executives and the Mediatization of Politics

The chapter intends to discuss how the media logic influences the sphere of the political executive. Drawing from the research perspective of the mediatization of politics the chapter will focus on two aspects: how the press portrays governments and governmental leaders and how political executives adapt to the media logic through a proactive process of self-mediatization. It will offer a review of the theoretical and empirical contributions that may highlight the characteristics and the scope of the mediatization process and will address some issues that might lead to future research developments, including the impact of internet and the increasing role of entertainment media in the political field.