Hostile politics’ effect: How politicians’ attacks against media shape public trust and democracy
Mária Žuffová is a Research Fellow at the European University Institute. She contributes to the BRRIDGE project, aimed at capacity building in research and fostering democratic engagement in Slovakia. Previously, she co-coordinated the Media Pluralism Monitor at the Centre for Media Pluralism and Freedom, overseeing policy analysis on freedom of expression, access to information, journalists’ protection, and independence of regulatory agencies. Her research bridges political and communication science, focusing on three key areas: (1) the interplay between the state, political actors, and media, examining its influence on trust and information access; (2) the role of stereotypes in shaping gender representation; and (3) the use and impact of transparency policies. She employs mixed methods, including surveys, text-as-data approaches, and interviews. Her work has been published in the European Political Science Review, the International Journal of Press/Politics, Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, among other outlets. Mária held several academic fellowships, including Electoral Integrity Project Fellowship. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Beyond academia, she brings practical experience from the civil society sector, having worked internationally with organisations like the Open Government Partnership and Open Knowledge Foundation and NGOs in Slovakia.
Hostile politics’ effect: How politicians’ attacks against media shape public trust and democracy
When discussing threats to media freedom in democracies, the focus often falls on direct control mechanisms, such as opaque media ownership, weak regulation of media concentration, political capture of public service media, or non-transparent distribution of state advertising. In contrast, this project introduces the Hostile Politics' Effect framework to explore subtler, yet equally damaging, means of undermining the media’s democratic role. The Hostile Politics Effect posits that political actors can erode the media’s credibility and democratic function not only through direct control but also through persistent hostility, portraying journalists as untrustworthy, biased, or enemies of the people. This strategy may foster public mistrust in the media, leading to self-censorship, diminished watchdog capacity, and reduced public reliance on journalism for democratic accountability. The project uses Malta and Slovakia as case studies to investigate the roots of the weakening of the media’s democratic functions. Both countries can be considered to have high-risk media environments. They have recently experienced the murder of investigative journalists, which represents the most extreme consequence of sustained hostility toward the media. Using mixed methods, this project contributes to a better understanding of factors that prevent the media from fulfilling its democratic functions.
