New Realities of Political Communications in Iceland and Norway

• Main Author: Birgir Guðmundsson
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The University of Akureyri 2014
• Subjects: Social sciences (General); H1-99; Human ecology. Anthropogeography; GF1-900; Norway; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/e8152627979944c4b030435ba57b9f52

Political communication in Iceland and in the Nordic Countries has undergone dramatic changes in the last decades. The political process has had to adjust to a new media landscape and to novel media technology at the same time as the media themselves are faced with transformed political realities. This paper reports a qualitative study on the way in which political parties in Iceland and Norway deal with a twofold change in political communication: on the one hand the change that has occurred with increasing commercialisation and professionalization of the traditional media; on the other, the change brought about by the digital revolution, with an explosion of media-outlets, communication possibilities and fragmentation of the public sphere. Five general dimensions are found to characterize the new realities of political communication in Norway and Iceland. These are: agenda setting; targeting of special groups; internal communication; professionalization; and a holistic communication approach.