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Despite the ongoing debate about the role the media play in democracies, there is little empirical research on its role in lawmaking. Yet studies conducted at the micro-level can provide insight into the influence journalists exert on this fundamental aspect of politics. This case study analyzes the role of media attention in the legislative process that resulted in the legal regulation of (semi)public officials’ remuneration in the Netherlands. The chronological in-depth analysis of claims made in the media and in parliament shows that during the legislative process, political actors responded to media attention directly and indirectly. Incident-driven coverage served as a source for questions and was strategically used by members of parliament (MPs) in legislative debates to substantiate and illustrate their position. More indirectly, long-term trends in media coverage for specific topics contributed to the introduction of and support for amendments to the bill.

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This study on the role of media attention for the Dutch question hour answers three questions: to what extent is media attention a source of inspiration for oral parliamentary questions? What explains the newsworthiness of these questions? And what explains the extent of media coverage for the questions posed during the question hour? To address this, we present a content analysis of oral parliamentary questions and related press coverage in five recent years. The results show first that oral questions are usually based on media attention for a topic. Concerns about media influence should however be nuanced: it is not necessarily the coverage itself, but also regularly a political statement that is the actual source of a parliamentary question. The media are thus an important “channel” for the interaction between politicians. Second, our analysis shows that oral questions do not receive media attention naturally. Several news values help to explain the amount of news coverage that questions receive. “Surfing the wave” of news attention for a topic in the days previous to the question hour seems to be the best way to generate media attention.