The role of news media in the policy process in Belgium

In this chapter, the authors rely on a review of empirical research to argue that the role news media play in the policy process in Belgium goes beyond simply passing on the various policy positions of those involved in the debate. The Belgian news media also act as an equal contributor in the policy process since they do more than just grant access to policy information. The argument starts with a characterisation of the Belgian media landscape, with its absence of “national” media, a strong public media sector and an increasing degree of media concentration. Then the role media fulfil in Belgium’s multilingual federal system is discussed, specifically how public broadcasting has been conceptualised as a means for constructing a sub-national identity. Furthermore, the high degree of media concentration is considered to be one of the main catalysing forces for the process of “depillarisation”. The impact of concentration and convergences in the press on media content is also examined. This brings the discussion back to the public media sector because its strong position is perceived as a guarantee of pluralism. Finally, the interdependence between the news media and policymaking in Belgium is explored from an agenda-setting perspective.status: publishe