oa ‘Second order elections’ in de media? Berichtgeving over de lokale verkiezingen van 2012 in België

‘Second order elections’ in the media? An analysis of news reports about the local elections of 2012 in Belgium

This research focuses on the coverage of the local elections in Belgium by the public broadcaster. Departing from theory about ‘second order elections’ and ‘media logic’ it was expected that politicians who have a mandate on the national and Flemish level and were candidate for the local elections gained more media attention in the coverage about the local elections. 118 broadcasts of the news and news programs of the Flemish public broadcaster were coded. The findings add to the literature by showing that although local elections are perceived less important than national elections, local candidates still receive a vast amount of attention. Especially those candidates who have a national of Flemish mandate.