Immer wieder fallen im Verlauf von Wahlkämpfen Schlagworte wie Personalisierung, Negativismus und Sensationalismus. Während diese Eigenschaften auf modern geführte Wahl-Kampagnen in den USA durchaus zutreffen mögen, so bescheinigen Studien deutscher Wahlforschungsinstitute für die Bundesrepublik doch recht durchwachsene Befunde. Im Zuge der Bundestagswahl 2005 haben wir uns mittels einer Inhaltsanalyse mit der Kandidatendarstellung Angela Merkels in der deutschen Qualitätspresse beschäftigt. Dabei ging es uns besonders um die Feststellung eines Wandels in der Darstellung Angela Merkels, welcher die Wähler in ihrer Wahlentscheidung beeinflusst haben könnte und um erkennbare Indizien für einen generellen Trend zur Personalisierung. / During electoral campaigns one can always hear key words like personalization, negativism and sensationalism. While these terms may represent the harsh reality of modern campaigns in the US, the results for Germany are rather ambiguous, according to prominent scientific studies. Following the chronology of the German 2005 election of the Bundestag, we tried to evaluate the presentation of candidate Angela Merkel, who ran for chancellor’s office, in the German quality press. Our main goal was the verification of a change in the way the papers presented Angela Merkel, hence possibly influencing the electorate. Furthermore, we tried to find proof of a general trend of personalization in Germany’s elections of 2005.

Immer wieder fallen im Verlauf von Wahlkämpfen Schlagworte wie Personalisierung, Negativismus und Sensationalismus. Während diese Eigenschaften auf modern geführte Wahl-Kampagnen in den USA durchaus zutreffen mögen, so bescheinigen Studien deutscher Wahlforschungsinstitute für die Bundesrepublik doch recht durchwachsene Befunde. Im Zuge der Bundestagswahl 2005 haben wir uns mittels einer Inhaltsanalyse mit der Kandidatendarstellung Angela Merkels in der deutschen Qualitätspresse beschäftigt. Dabei ging es uns besonders um die Feststellung eines Wandels in der Darstellung Angela Merkels, welcher die Wähler in ihrer Wahlentscheidung beeinflusst haben könnte und um erkennbare Indizien für einen generellen Trend zur Personalisierung. / During electoral campaigns one can always hear key words like personalization, negativism and sensationalism. While these terms may represent the harsh reality of modern campaigns in the US, the results for Germany are rather ambiguous, according to prominent scientific studies. Following the chronology of the German 2005 election of the Bundestag, we tried to evaluate the presentation of candidate Angela Merkel, who ran for chancellor’s office, in the German quality press. Our main goal was the verification of a change in the way the papers presented Angela Merkel, hence possibly influencing the electorate. Furthermore, we tried to find proof of a general trend of personalization in Germany’s elections of 2005.

La tesi si inserisce nella discussione intorno al quadro del sistema politico italiano in Germania e analizza le modalità secondo le quali viene trattata la politica italiana nella stampa tedesca “di qualità” nel periodo della cosiddetta “Seconda Repubblica”. Oltre a presentare l’immagine delle istituzioni, dei partiti e dei candidati alle elezioni politiche nei media tedeschi, il lavoro illustra l’origine della percezione e i processi comunicativi che riducono la complessità della realtà nella cronaca politica estera basandosi sulle teorie di gatekeeping, news bias, news values e framing. L’analisi del lavoro quotidiano dei comunicatori mediali (ca. 90 interviste e questionari) e la content analysis di 1.024 articoli mostrano che il quadro del sistema politico italiano nella stampa tedesca non si caratterizza tanto per una valutazione negativa della politica italiana tout court, quanto piuttosto per una forte personalizzazione – con valutazioni costantemente aggiornate – intorno alle figure dei leader politici. La tesi dimostra infine come, diversamente da quanto avviene per le questioni di politica interna, l’orientamento politico delle testate non condizioni fortemente la cronaca politica estera, bensì come ai corrispondenti venga lasciata estrema libertà nella mediazione culturale tra Italia e Germania e nella valutazione dei fatti e personaggi che compongono il complesso panorama politico italiano. / In the ongoing discourse about Italy's political image in Germany, the dissertation adds to the discussion the analysis of the modalities about how the present-day image of Italy's political system is handled in the German media during the so-called “Second Republic”. More than the illustration of Italy´s political institutions, parties and leader images in German media, the paper consults theories of gatekeeping, news bias, news values, and framing handles with the origins of the perception and in particular with the communication processes that reduce the accuracy in political foreign news. The analysis of journalist's daily work through 90 interviews / questionnaires and a content analysis of 1.024 newspaper articles shows that the media image of Italy's political system is not so much characterized as permanently negative as it is a never-ending personalization of Italy's political leaders. Finally, the dissertation shows the political orientation of newspapers in contrast to national news doesn't significantly influence foreign news. Moreover it was demonstrated the processes of perception and communication that take place in foreign news is determinant. Under these restrictions the correspondents are able to use the scope of development for writing articles and judging the events and the characters of Italy's political system.