"Banal" Europeanized National Public Spheres? Framing the Eurozone Crisis in the European Elite Press

Abstract

The article discusses the findings of a frame analysis of the eurozone crisis in the elite national press in member states of the European Union (EU). Its premise is that the eurozone crisis generates “banal” Europeanized national public spheres. In this study, the leading press in the four European countries under scrutiny ultimately function as a producer of homogeneous narratives that favor a particular form of political economic behavior, but also dismiss, silence, and marginalize “story lines” that derail from the set course. Thereby, the study shows the existence of a public sphere, which is salient, seamless, and, ultimately, banal. The crisis, we argue, in particular, has given rise to a no-thrills inclusion of EU dimension in all mediated debates in the elite press.