The grand opening? The transformation of the content of culture sections in European newspapers, 1960-2010

- Explores the increase in heterogeneity and opening of legitimate culture, 1960-2010.
- Employs a longitudinal content analysis of European newspaper culture sections.
- Established art forms still dominating, emerging areas with only marginal coverage.
- Major transformation inside established art forms: in music, from classical to pop-rock.
- Discusses the methodological aspects of comparative analysis using European newspapers.

This study presents an analysis of changes in the coverage of culture in major European newspapers from 1960 to 2010. Employing a content analysis of the newspapers, we examine how culture sections have changed in terms of the cultural areas covered. We ask whether the content of cultural coverage has become more heterogeneous and whether newspapers embedded in different geographical and cultural contexts differ in this respect. To assess heterogeneity, we first focus on the opening of culture through the increase in coverage of emerging art forms at the expense of the coverage of established art forms. Next, we turn our attention to music and measure openness according to the increase of pop-rock content. The results suggest a cultural opening, albeit mostly measured by the second proxy. Established art forms hold their mainstream position, while emerging forms are validated at a slower pace than expected. Regarding music, the transformation of coverage from classical music to pop-rock is very dramatic. The findings challenge expectations about the order in which the newspapers manifest the timing and thoroughness of the opening of culture, highlighting the complexity of the factors shaping newspapers' cultural coverage.