Media Effects on Public Opinion about the Enlargement of the European Union*

Studies of public support for matters of European integration tend either to neglect or inadequately model the role of the mass media. This study investigates how news media content affects public support for the enlargement of the EU. Other influences on support for integration, such as economic evaluations, anti‐immigration sentiment, domestic political considerations and cognitive mobilization are accounted for. The study draws on two‐wave panel surveys and media content analyses of television news and national newspapers. The results suggest that media coverage of EU affairs matters to change in public opinion about EU enlargement. The effects of the news media, however, are conditional upon the visibility and consistency in tone of the news.