ABSTRACT
Democratic political communication systems are becoming more complicated as a result of changes in the media and society. With the advance of media abundance, there are more channels of communication, more news outlets of different kinds and more incessant competition between them. Inside news organisations, tensions are sharpening between professional cultures and institutional needs.1 From the advance of modernisation, more fragmented social orders have emerged, full of interest groups and contending value orientations, in which the political role of the media has become more pivotal.2 Individuals rely on them more often for social connectness and political awareness. Would-be opinion formers, political parties and their leaders rely on them more heavily to reach individual citizens and cultivate or restore public support. Expectations of media performance multiply and diversify.
