Where can European citizens find public information and debate about political matters of common concern? In the absence of strong pan-European media the national news media prove critical for the emergence of a European public sphere. But are political debates in the national media more Europeanized today than they were two decades ago? And if so, do national media merely look to Brussels more nowadays or are they also debating issues across national borders more intensely? Are national discourses converging over time in the issues, opinions, arguments and Identity elements they carry?
 
This book presents the first long-term study of the transnationalization of national public discourses in five European countries, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Combining quantitative and qualitative content analysis of broadsheet newspapers, the authors uncover the as yet nationally segmented character of Europeanization in the media and identify the factors that foster and inhibit it. In conclusion, they provide an original normative appraisal of the levels and patterns of Europeanization achieved to date.
 
The book will prove important to students of media and communication, political science, European studies and anybody interested in the media's contribution to bringing Europeans closer to each other.

List of Figures – List of Tables – Preface & Acknowledgements – List of Authors
The Transnationalization of Public Spheres: Theoretic Considerations
Analysing Europeanization: The Research Framework
Segmented Europeanization
Differential Europeanization: Explaining Vertical and Horizontal Europeanization in the Quality Press
Towards a Pan-European Public Spheres? A typology of Transnational Media in Europe; M.Brügggemann & H.Schulz-Forberg
Together We Fight? Europe's Debate over the Legitimacy of Military Interventions
United in Protest? The European Struggle over Genetically Modified Food; S.Schneider
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Additional Tables for Chapter 4
Appendix 2: Methodological Appendix
Notes – References – Index

HARTMUT WESSLER is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at the University of Mannheim, Germany.
BERNHARD PETERS (1949-2005) was Professor of Political Science at the University of Bremen, Germany.
MICHAEL BRÜGGEMANN is Postdoctoral Fellow at Jacobs University Bremen, Germany.
KATHARINA KLEINEN-V.KÖNIGSLÖW is Research Associate at the Jacobs University Bremen, Germany.
STEFANIE SIFFT is Instructor at the University of Applied Science in Bremen, Germany.