<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>More than 30 years have passed since Latvia gained its independence, however, systematic studies of present‐day relationship between media and politics are still missing. Latvia is a country where choice of media is largely determined by ethnicity. Representatives from ethnic groups acquire their daily information from different news sources, as the result the trust levels in media depend on the media format and the language of choice. This study adds to the literature by studying the perceptions of Latvian Members of Parliament on media agenda‐setting power. Drawing on surveys of Latvian parliamentarians, the agenda‐setting power of media is assessed and compared to the survey results in Finland. The results reveal that politicians in Latvia and in Finland think that, in general, media have a massive influence on politics, but the power of written press in Latvia is less evident. And although MPs acknowledge that media can have a significant influence on how decisions are made, the greatest impact will be observed during political debates that can be covered by the media. This study also demonstrates that even though Latvia scores high in the world press freedom ranks, MPs do not trust the media to a large extent and that can be a dangerous signal for the functioning of democracy. The results offer valuable information about the influence of media in countries outside Western Europe and provide a basis for further discussions on surveys as a method for studying the power of media agenda‐setting.</p>
</abstract>

More than 30 years have passed since Latvia gained its independence, however, systematic studies of present‐day relationship between media and politics are still missing. Latvia is a country where choice of media is largely determined by ethnicity. Representatives from ethnic groups acquire their daily information from different news sources, as the result the trust levels in media depend on the media format and the language of choice. This study adds to the literature by studying the perceptions of Latvian Members of Parliament on media agenda‐setting power. Drawing on surveys of Latvian parliamentarians, the agenda‐setting power of media is assessed and compared to the survey results in Finland. The results reveal that politicians in Latvia and in Finland think that, in general, media have a massive influence on politics, but the power of written press in Latvia is less evident. And although MPs acknowledge that media can have a significant influence on how decisions are made, the greatest impact will be observed during political debates that can be covered by the media. This study also demonstrates that even though Latvia scores high in the world press freedom ranks, MPs do not trust the media to a large extent and that can be a dangerous signal for the functioning of democracy. The results offer valuable information about the influence of media in countries outside Western Europe and provide a basis for further discussions on surveys as a method for studying the power of media agenda‐setting.

Fragmented and Yet Influential: MPs’ Perceptions on the Media in Latvia

ACTA PROSPERITATIS

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Fragmented and Yet Influential: MPs\u2019 Perceptions on the Media in Latvia"}

More than 30 years have passed since Latvia gained its independence, however, systematic studies of present‐day relationship between media and politics are...

Fragmented and Yet Influential: MPs’ Perceptions on the Media in Latvia

Published Online: Jul 26, 2023

Page range: 139 - 157

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37804/1691-6077-2022-13-139-157

Keywords
political agenda-setting, media power, political elite, MPs, survey, comparative research

© 2023 Lāsma Šķestere, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fragmented and Yet Influential: MPs’ Perceptions on the Media in Latvia

Published Online: Jul 26, 2023

Page range: 139 - 157

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37804/1691-6077-2022-13-139-157

Keywordspolitical agenda-setting, media power, political elite, MPs, survey, comparative research

© 2023 Lāsma Šķestere, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
political agenda-setting, media power, political elite, MPs, survey, comparative research