Accountability under the media spotlight: the role of economic salience in assigning credit and blame to the incumbent in Portugal

This article examines the role of media salience in shaping economic accountability in Portugal between 2002 and 2024. Using a combination of media content analysis and individual-level survey data, we test whether increased media attention to the economy amplifies the influence of economic performance on the incumbent’s vote share. Results show that media salience shapes the electoral fortunes of incumbent parties, primarily by strengthening the influence of voters’ economic perceptions (more than objective indicators) and by tending to hold right-wing incumbents more accountable (although no systematic negative media effect is found). Even in atypical electoral contexts (such as the 2011 and 2024 elections), overall patterns of rewarding or punishing incumbents remain consistent, highlighting the media’s indirect role in democratic accountability.