Constructing a Political Press Conference: Cross-mediality and the NOS' Web of Entanglements

Abstract

This thesis will disentangle the web of connections between the four chosen platforms: the liveblog, the internet news articles, the eight o’clock newscast and the political press conference; in order to analyze how the NOS constructs the political press conference in a cross-medial manner. I argue that the political press conference should be considered the most important platform on the specific day it is broadcasted. This finding is supported by the qualitative importance of the references from the three platforms. Furthermore, through an analysis of authorship based on Erdal’s cross-medial framework, I will conclude that the NOS purposely hide their production processes. Without further field work, their intent remains unknown. It is certain, however, that this leaves only their cross-media communication processes visible. Delving further into this phenomenon will lead me to the political implications of the NOS’ cross-mediality. An analysis of the relationship between the Dutch state and the NOS will provide insight in how this cross-medial network, where the three platforms build anticipation for the main event, the political press conference, contribute to the ideological dominance of the nation state. The current extreme entanglement of politics, society and the media, strengthened by the Covid-19 pandemic, has made it possible for outlets like the NOS to use the myth of the mediated center as a tool. Since the intrusive measures regarding the coronavirus are constantly changed, the NOS functions as the messenger between the abstract power of the state and the violence enacted by the state. They provide the public with the vital information that is necessary in order to avoid prosecution by the Dutch government. The NOS is currently in the position the media always claimed to be in. They function as a gateway, for many, into what is currently happening in the nation state and thus in society.