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Has the Dutch news media acted as a policy actor in the road pricing policy debate?

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  • Ardıç, Özgül
  • Annema, Jan Anne
  • van Wee, Bert

Abstract

The media is seen as an important player in road pricing policy implementation processes. Yet, it is not clear whether the media is actually a policy actor, like politicians or interest groups, which pursues a particular policy positions. This paper empirically examines whether the Dutch news media was objective in its reporting of the Dutch road pricing policy debate (which took place between 1998 and 2010) or whether it acted as a policy actor through biased reporting. We applied Westerstahl’s Objectivity Framework to the media coverage by five leading national newspapers. Our main conclusion is that the Dutch news media was not objective and acted as a policy actor in the Dutch road pricing policy debate. Although all the newspapers violated objectivity to the same degree, they clearly adopted different policy positions. One popular newspaper was negative and the other mixed whereas all three quality newspapers were positive with the exception of one which sometimes inclined to a mixed position. All newspapers generally maintained the same position over the relatively long period of the road pricing debate.

Suggested Citation

  • Ardıç, Özgül & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2013. "Has the Dutch news media acted as a policy actor in the road pricing policy debate?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 47-63.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:57:y:2013:i:c:p:47-63
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2013.09.005
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    1. Ardıç, Özgül & Annema, Jan Anne & van Wee, Bert, 2015. "The reciprocal relationship between policy debate and media coverage: The case of road pricing policy in the Netherlands," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 384-399.
    2. De Vos, Jonas, 2016. "Road pricing in a polycentric urban region: Analysing a pilot project in Belgium," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 134-142.
    3. Özgül Ardıç & Jan Anne Annema & Eric Molin & Bert Wee, 2018. "The association between news and attitudes towards a Dutch road pricing proposal," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 827-848, May.
    4. Grisolía, José M. & López, Francisco & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2015. "Increasing the acceptability of a congestion charging scheme," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 37-47.
    5. Mu, Rui & de Jong, Martin & Ma, Yongchi & Xi, Bao, 2015. "Trading off public values in High-Speed Rail development in China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 66-77.
    6. Mouter, Niek & de Geest, Auke & Doorn, Neelke, 2018. "A values-based approach to energy controversies: Value-sensitive design applied to the Groningen gas controversy in the Netherlands," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 639-648.
    7. Ramos, Raúl & Cantillo, Víctor & Arellana, Julián & Sarmiento, Iván, 2017. "From restricting the use of cars by license plate numbers to congestion charging: Analysis for Medellin, Colombia," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 119-130.

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