The December issue of European Communication Journal is now out and available online. It features five articles, previously published online first earlier this year. Of interest to journalism scholars are two articles on the Dutch media.

In a rare longitudinal study the diversity, in terms of parties and issues, present in political news was researched by authors Anita van Hoof, Wouter van Atteveldt, both of VU University of Amsterdam, Carina Jacobi of University of Vienna and Nel Ruigrok of University of Rotterdam (authors not in original order). Spanning from 1994 to 2012 the study detected some fluctuations in the levels of diversity. The authors, however, were surprised to learn that despite changes, the level of diversity in issues raised by media was fairly constant.

In another longitudinal content analysis authors Linda Bos and Kees Brants, both of University of Amsterdam, measure the level of political populism present in election coverage. Despite the common claim that populism in the Netherlands is on the rise, the authors found no conclusive evidence of it. In fact, populist rhetoric in the media is in a slight decline, the authors conclude.

The journal issue can be accessed online here (abstracts public).