Abstract

The chain of crises impacting Europe since the early 21st century has rekindled debates on issue salience, both in public opinion and party competition. This paper explores the citizens’ perspective (demand side), emphasizing their subjective evaluations, which are crucial for political systems whenever they become collective needs. The study examines how media exposure to electoral campaigns can affect citizens’ perceptions of priorities in their own country. Analysing data from the 2019 European Election Studies, this research focuses on Italy, France, and Germany, identifying the economy, immigration, and the environment as primary concerns. Findings show a positive impact of media exposure on overall issue salience (p < 0.01). However, this effect is not evident for individual issues and by country, except for the environment, which indicate a moderate but still significant influence (p < 0.05). Additionally, the economy appears as a structural variable, «crystallized» in citizens’ opinions, and remains unaffected by media exposure, whether highly salient (e.g., Italy) or minimally salient (e.g., Germany). This highlights the complex role of issue salience in shaping public opinion, particularly in a media-saturated ecosystem where traditional top-down models of persuasion are increasingly questioned.