Romanian Journal of Communications and Public Relations (Nov 2023)
“Once Bitten, Twice Shy”. EU’s Fiscal Compact in Romanian Readers’ Comments on Adevãrul and Evenimentul Zilei
Abstract
The paper proposes a new empirical approach in the study of Europeanized public spheres, by applying political claims analysis and frames analysis to readers’ comments about the Fiscal Compact and comparing them to claims in the media articles. The research draws a broad picture of how Romanian citizens interpreted the actions and decisions of political actors, what positions they chose to adopt in regard to the issue and why. Results show that readers’ attitudes regarding the fiscal treaty are influenced by their political party affinities or oppositions and that the extent of Europeanization of a newspaper determines the degree of Europeanized claim-making in readers’ comments. The paper questions citizens’ participation in the public sphere, characterized by mediated interactions and high degrees of contestation. The EU Fiscal Compact has generated an issue-specific agonistic public sphere which, to a certain extent, involves online news media consumers, who do not resume at replicating the political debate between European leaders, but also add their own interpretations to it. Besides monitoring and discussing political decisions, readers of Adevărul and Evenimentul Zilei also address claims to the political class, asking for information and for citizens’ participation in the decision-making regarding the treaty. However, the overall level of Europeanization of readers’ debate is quite low.
