The media play a crucial role in informing European citizens about European integration. They form the primary source of information for most citizens and shape both attitudes towards European integration as well as voter behavior during elections.
Research in this area focuses on the representation of the EU in national news media, the impact on attitudes towards integration, and voting behavior during European Parliamentary elections and national referendums on issues of European integration.
This research area has been a landmark of research at The Amsterdam School of Communications Research ASCoR for more than a decade and was the core of a Dutch science foundation (NWO) VICI grant (a 5 year research grant) to Professor de Vreese. CPC members are actively involved in the European election group and in 2012/2013 an international group of scholars visited the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS), co-chaired by Claes de Vreese.