Normative role of the media in the national public sphere: The case of reporting about Great Britain leaving the European Union

V magistrskem delu obravnavam vlogo tiskovnih agencij v javni sferi v procesu poročanja o izstopu Velike Britanije iz Evropske unije oziroma brexitu. Vloga agencij je, da zagotavljajo zanesljive informacije, ki jih nato mediji posredujejo svojim občinstvom, kar omogoči oblikovanje javnega mnenja. Proučujem vpliv dejavnikov velikosti tiskovne agencije in njenega bruseljskega dopisništva, velikosti države izvora agencije ter relevantnosti brexita za državo izvora in njene državljane na izpolnjevanje vloge tiskovne agencije v javni sferi. Analiza pogovorov z bruseljskima dopisnikoma Slovenske tiskovne agencije (STA) in britanske tiskovne agencije z mednarodno razsežnostjo Reuters ter uradnikom Evropske unije kaže, da vsi trije dejavniki vplivajo predvsem na dostopnost informacij. To pa vsaj do določene mere vpliva tudi na izpolnjevanje vloge tiskovnih agencij v javni sferi, saj lahko novinarji z boljšim dostopom svojim naslovnikom zagotavljajo več in bolj zanesljive informacije. Oba dopisnika sicer trdita, da ustrezno izpolnjujeta to vlogo. V raziskavi sem ugotovil tudi, da s tem, ko novinarja o Uniji ne poročata samo z nacionalnega vidika, ampak tudi z evropskega, prispevata k vzpostavljanju evropske javne sfere.This master\u27s thesis examines the role of news agencies in the public sphere when reporting about Great Britain leaving the European Union (Brexit). Their role is to provide reliable information to the media which pass it to their audiences, what enables forming of the public opinion. I study the impact of factors of size of the news agency and its Brussels\u27 bureau, size of the country of origin of the agency and the relevance of Brexit for the country of origin and its citizens on fulfilling news wire\u27s role in the public sphere. The analysis of interviews with Brussels\u27 correspondents of Slovene Press Agency (STA) and British Press Agency with international comprehensiveness Reuters and with an EU official shows that all the three factors impact the journalist\u27s access to the information. To some extent this also impacts the fulfilling of news agencies\u27 role in the public sphere. Namely, journalists with better access to the sources can provide more information that is also more trustworthy to their recipients. Correspondents of STA and Reuters both carry out this role, in their opinion. I have also found out that they both report about the EU from the European perspective and not just from the national perspective, which means that they contribute to the forming of the European public sphere