ABSTRACT
This chapter lays out the argument that mainstreamed economic news helps inattentive audiences, in particular, to make sense of economic developments. Combining insights from debates about information processing, inattentive audiences, and monitorial citizens, three mechanisms are presented which mainstreamed economic news helps people who are not intrinsically interested in economic news to make sense of the economy: the alarm bell function, elaboration-inducing content, and heuristics. Central are five key aspects of media coverage that provide citizens with cues on which to base their perceptions: visibility, negativity, human interest, consequence framing, and domestication. A comprehensive content analysis of economic news shows the presence of these content features in economic news in different types of outlets. This chapter sets the scene for the subsequent chapters, where we show how these content characteristics influence citizens’ perceptions and understanding of the economy.
