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The purpose of these two volumes is to analyze similarities and differences in scandals across countries that might help us to understand contemporary media and political dynamics. Are there common developments that account for the rise of scandal politics worldwide? How does the study of scandals inform/ challenge/confirm a number of literatures and theoretical propositions in the field of political communication? What can be learned from scandals to understand the workings and practices of journalism in different countries?
Scandals have not been unusual in the histories of democracies around the world. The political evolutions of many different countries, certainly some more than others, are packed with revelations of corrupt actions committed by public officials (see Longman, 1990). If corruption is as old as politics, scandals are not novel developments either. What is striking about contemporary politics is the periodical eruption of scandals. If corruption has been considered universal by classic and contemporary studies, scandals too have become ubiquitous worldwide. The themes of scandals do vary across countries, as some studies and contributions in these issues show, but scandals are not unique to some countries. Scandals appear to be recurrent rather than sporadic events. Scandals seem to be the norm rather than exceptional moments. Scandals are common in countries with dissimilar political trajectories and practices, economic standards, political cultures, media systems, and levels of corruption. The United Slates and India, Japan and Mexico, Italy and South Korea have been lately described as being in a state of "permanent scandals" (Getlin, 1998).
Scandals have been described as frenetic events, media and political frenzies that initially capture a great deal of attention and later, gradually or suddenly, disappear (see Thompson, 2000). Unless investigative commissions are set up or political interests continue to orchestrate scandals through leakages and other means, the length of scandals hinges on media interest. The media's notorious short-lived attention, however, makes scandals prone to have a brief existence. Before a scandal enters its political and legal denouement or fades into a country's memory, other scandals break to be followed by yet another scandal and so the cycle goes on. The unending succession of scandals does not seem to generate major public response or grip large sectors of public opinion. Despite media hoopla, heated discussions in...