Media Elites

In the era of mediatized politics, political authority becomes more and more dependent on media and communication. Media elites must therefore not only be seen as elites within the particular sector of the media but also as strategic elites with significant influence on politics and society. This chapter discusses, first, who qualifies as media or journalistic elites in modern societies. Second, it outlines different theoretical approaches to the analysis of the media-politics relationship from an elite perspective. Third, it presents recent empirical findings concerning media elites in different countries and settings, focusing on the social composition of media elites, their attitudes, as well as elite relations between the media sector and the political sector.