Digital Journalism

Bypassing Journalism: Journalists and Politicians in a Changing Media Landscape

Traditional theories assume that journalists and politicians share mutual dependency: journalists depend on political elites as sources of inside information and potential scoops, while politicians rely on journalists for public exposure and positive media coverage – particularly during political campaigns and as elected officials (Davis, 2009; Van Aelst & Vliegenthart, 2014; Vobič et al., 2017). The metaphors scholars use to describe the politicians-journalists relationship reflect this interdependency, portraying the relationship as a mutual ‘tango dance’ at best or ‘tug of war’ at worst (Altheide & Snow, 1979; Gans, 1979). However, these theoretical frameworks are being challenged by various technologies, platforms, and political strategies that enable politicians to bypass journalism – destabilising the balance of power between political reporters and the politicians they are expected to hold accountable.

In the political arena, a rising movement of anti-media populism, led by politicians with authoritarian tendencies – from the US to Germany, from India to Hungary, from Israel to Argentina – has reshaped the approach of political elites and political reporters (Carlson et al., 2020; Panievsky, 2021; Waisbord, 2020). Political leaders no longer feel as dependent on professional journalists (Van Dalen, 2021). Quite the contrary: bashing the media has become a popular strategy across borders, establishing a form of political capital (Ladd & Podkul, 2020). Previous norms around political reporting (Hellmueller, 2014), such as who belongs in the White House Press Corps, who gets to host election debates, and which journalists are rewarded with access to power – are questioned and undone.

Despite the attention granted to steps taken recently by Donald Trump’s second administration in the US, bypassing journalism is relevant worldwide, in the Global North and South. Political leaders like India’s Narendra Modi and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu have refused to give interviews to professional journalists for years. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro used bypassing tactics like cancelling press conferences, blocking journalists from his social media accounts, and calling to boycott critical media outlets – as has Marine Le Pen in France.

The increasing dominance of anti-media media, or ‘pseudo media’ – from Fox News in the US (Bauer et al. 2022), through OpIndia in India (Chadha and Bhat 2022), to Wen Wei Po in Hong Kong (George 2023) – has made it easier for politicians to avoid journalistic scrutiny on their power and conduct. Recent technological developments, including the rise of a global Broligarchy (a small number of billionaire tech moguls who possess immense power over the political conversation, see Merrin & Hoskins, 2025) and the introduction of AI-generated “journalists” in countries like Zimbabwe and Indonesia (Ndlovu 2024; Rae 2023), have added unique challenges to journalists’ negotiation power vis-à-vis politicians and parties.

In other words, the emergence of multiple alternatives to journalism on the one hand, and the dominance of anti-media populism which capitalises on politicians’ hostility towards journalists on the other, have opened new paths for political figures to avoid journalistic scrutiny (Van Dalen, 2021). It undermines politicians’ presumed dependency on reporters, allowing them to increasingly turn to strategic bypassing of journalism. As observed by Hallin (2018), “Contemporary populist movements develop within a fragmented media ecology in which it is possible for populist leaders to bypass these legacy media institutions and challenge their legitimacy” (p.14).

If journalism is considered a public good, intended to monitor those in power, then bypassing journalism is a significant trend that should be tackled, both empirically and theoretically. New paradigms, fresh concepts, and innovative metaphors – anchored in rigorous and cross-national research – are needed to capture the current landscape of mediated politics.      Bypassing journalists can mean evading public accountability – this is the topic at the core of this special issue. Whether through influencers, podcasters, AI-generated journalists or alternative media forums, present-day politicians can avoid communicating with and answering to political reporters. Newsrooms’ leverage over political figures appears to be shrinking, particularly when tech moguls collaborate with populist leaders to get them public attention, amplification and affection, without the annoyance of scrutiny by ‘the watchdogs of democracy’.

When so many alternative platforms allow politicians to spread their messages to the public, and any critical coverage is quickly labelled ‘biased’ and ‘treason’– what leverage do reporters still hold against their political sources? How does this power manifest itself in different cultural and political climates? And what may be the future implications for journalists-politicians turbulent relationship?

We welcome theoretical, empirical, and cross-country contributions and encourage studies from the global south. We are particularly interested in submissions focusing on the following issues:

• Which strategies do politicians apply to bypass political reporters in a changing digital landscape?
• How do journalists cope with new initiatives to bypass the media?
• What role do influencers and podcasters play in the relationship between journalists and politicians?
• How do newsrooms cover media access restrictions? 
• What does bypassing journalism mean in different media systems and cultural contexts?
• What are the public perceptions of politicians’ efforts to marginalise professional journalists? 
• How can traditional theories be re-conceptualized to explain the phenomenon of bypassing journalism?
• What media effects can be observed when bypassing journalism – for audiences, journalists, and democracy?
• What role does the dominance of hyper-partisan media play in facilitating bypassing journalism? 
• What kind of policies could help counter the efforts to bypass journalism?