Image of Polish and German European policy during tensions - a comparative analysis of Polish and German press

Beata Ociepka, Agnieszka Łada, Jarosław Ćwiek-Karpowicz

English version of the article

The paper presents the results of a research focused on the image of European policy of Poland and Germany in the selected dailies and weeklies of both countries at the time of political tensions in bilateral relations - from the 1st of January till the end of October 2007 (the period covers EU-German presidency and essential discussions on European reform treaty). The main method implemented is quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the press. To trace the differences in coverage, authors implemented the concept of frames (Semetko & Valkenburg, 2000). According to the results of the analysis German newspapers represented more balanced and impartial line of argumentation whereas Polish press was one sided. The image, constructed by messages, was more complex than expected at the initial phase of research.

KEYWORDS

Polish press, German press, content analysis, Polish and German European policy, political communication, image