Local daily newspapers rarely come into the focus of research on the European public sphere. However, precisely because of their important functions at the local level, they should not be neglected and can contribute to the politicisation of the EU by assuming a hinge function between the various actors from politics, the mass media and civil society, their strategies and activities as well as the reporting in the medium itself.

In order to examine this more closely, the dissertation analyses how politicians, especially Members of the European Parliament, as top-down actors and civil actors as bottom-up actors influence local journalists and their EU coverage in local newspapers. With the help of a qualitative content analysis of local daily newspapers as well as a comparison of the three case states Germany, Austria and France, it can be determined how local public spheres are created, represented and Europeanised through these dynamics.

Procedure and milestones:
The procedure consists first of all of a qualitative content analysis of the EU coverage of two local newspapers in each of the three case states Germany, Austria and France. This will be combined with an analysis of politicisation and public relations and will be carried out on the basis of two specific events, which will be selected in the course of the dissertation in accordance with grounded theory.

In addition, expert interviews with actors from all three levels (politicians, local journalists, civil society) as well as an examination of the social media and websites of the selected local newspapers will be conducted. Based on the findings, the dynamics of the top-down and bottom-up processes will be elaborated and analysed in a synthesis for the individual case states. These can be contrasted in a cross-national comparison, which will also allow statements to be made about similarities and differences in the dynamics as well as in the degree of Europeanisation.