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1
Higgins, Michael Thomas. "Political coverage and national identity in the Scottish press : the case of the 1999 elections." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.275196.
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Klinkhammer, Ruth. "Conflict or collaboration?, a study of press coverage of the 1993 and 1997 Alberta provincial elections." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape9/PQDD_0016/MQ47954.pdf.
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Namburete, Eliana Munguambe. "A Content Analysis of Mozambican Newspapers' Coverage of the 2004 Presidential Election." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2005. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4851/.
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This study focuses on the amount of coverage given by four major tabloid newspapers-Demos, Zambeze, Savana and Domingo-to the candidates of the major political parties Renamo and Frelimo, during the 2004 presidential race. The number of stories of both parties in those newspapers were counted and calculated by chi-square to determine how much one party was covered than the other identifying signs of balance or bias. The research showed that there was a significant result of 42 percent of likelihood that stories in the four newspapers would either be about Frelimo or Renamo. However, the study also revealed that Frelimo was the party covered most often by Demos, Zambeze and Savana while Renamo was covered most often by Domingo.
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Mukundu, Rashweat. "A critical discourse analysis of the coverage of operation "Restore Order" (Operation Murambatsvina) by Zimbabwe's weekly newspapers, the state-owned The Sunday Mail and the privately owned The Standard, in the period 18 May to 30 June 2005." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002925.
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On May 16 2006 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on a clean-up programme of urban centres, destroying informal human settlements and informal businesses. This operation, which the government called operation "Restore Order", resulted in the displacement of nearly one million people and left thousands of families homeless. This study is a discussion and an analysis of the coverage of the clean-up operation by two of Zimbabwe's leading Sunday newspapers, The Sunday Mail and The Standard. The Sunday Mail is owned by the Zimbabwe government and The Standard is privately owned and perceived to be oppositional to the current Zimbabwe government. The two newspapers, therefore, covered the clean-up operation from different perspectives and often presented conflicting reports explaining why the clean-up operation was carried out and the extent of its impact on the lives of millions of Zimbabweans. The chosen research approach is the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework as developed by Fairclough (1995). Using CDA, this study seeks to find out and expose the underlying ideological struggles for hegemony between different social and political groups in Zimbabwe and how the newspapers became actors in this process. This process is made possible by looking at how news reporting is organised in the two newspapers, issues of language use, sourcing and external factors that influenced the coverage of the operation.
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Ndimande, Dumisani Blessing. "The disputed “equitable treatment” in political party broadcasts: an analysis of the SABC coverage of the 2014 South African general elections." Thesis, Nelson Mandela University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14234.
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The aim of this study was to establish whether the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) performed according to its mandate in ensuring a fair broadcast coverage of all political parties that participated in the 2014 national general election. The study was undertaken as a result of the complaints by political parties who accused the SABC of bias during the election. The study focused on two SABC radio stations, namely SAFM and UKHOZI FM. In executing the research, particular attention was paid to the coverage of political party manifestos, town hall election debates and radio interviews. The study was written utilising the theoretical paradigm of Social Responsibility Theory, as this is largely deemed the most ethical guide in testing South African journalism. The research was conducted in accordance with the Independent Complaints Authority of South Africa (ICASA) regulations that govern broadcast media during elections. The second part of the analysis deconstructed the SABC’s media coverage of the 2014 election through Media Monitoring Africa – a non-profit organisation that monitors and reports on media coverage of elections, whilst simultaneously taking ICASA stipulated guidelines into account. The MMA and ICASA equipped the study with reports which were compiled after an intense monitoring of SABC’s coverage of the 2014 election. Through the analysis of political parties’ accessibility to the election broadcast programmes on SABC platforms, the study concluded that although there were errors, the SABC treated all parties fairly during the 2014 general elections. The study also found that poor corporate governance at the SABC did not impact directly on the public broadcaster’s ability to deliver fair election broadcasting. By conforming to the social responsibility role that calls for high professional conduct, fairness and objectivity as expected in the public broadcaster, this study found that the SABC was committed to a fair coverage of the 2014 election.
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Miller, Jerry L. "Dynamics of political advertisements, news coverage, and candidate gender : a content analysis of the campaign messages of the 1990 and 1994 California and Texas gubernatorial elections /." Full-text version available from OU Domain via ProQuest Digital Dissertations, 1996.
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7
Dekavalla, Marina. "General elections in the post-devolution period : press accounts of the 2001 and 2005 campaigns in Scotland and England." Thesis, University of Stirling, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1893/2301.
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This thesis examines and compares newspaper coverage of the first two general elections after Scottish devolution, looking at both the Scottish and English/UK press. By considering the coverage of a major political event which affects both countries, it contributes to debates regarding the performance of the Scottish press within an arguably distinct Scottish public sphere as well as that of the press in England within a post-devolution context. The research is based on a content analysis of all the coverage of the 2001 and 2005 elections in seven Scottish and five English and UK daily morning newspapers, a critical discourse analysis of a sample of the coverage of the most mentioned issues in each campaign and a small set of interviews with Scottish political editors. As a framework for its analysis, this thesis focuses on theories of national identity and deliberative democracy in the media. It finds that the coverage of elections in the two countries has a similar issue agenda, however Scottish newspapers appear less interested in the UK aspect of the elections and include debates on Scottish affairs which are discussed in isolation, within an exclusively Scottish mediated space. These issues are constructed as particularly relevant to a Scottish readership through references to the nation, inclusive modes of address to the reader and the inclusion of exclusively Scottish sources, which contrast with the Scottish coverage of “UK” issues. This distinction between “Scottish” and “UK” topics emerges as the key differentiating factor in the discursive construction of election issues in the Scottish press, rather than that between devolved and reserved issues. Newspapers in England on the other hand, report on the two campaigns without taking into consideration the post-devolution political reality. These core questions are contextualized within the thesis by reference to relevant dimensions of Scottish culture and politics, and interpreted in the light of events since 2005.
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Cheong, Wai Kam. "Political bias in the news coverage of the Macao Assembly Election 2005 : analysis of three local newspapers." Thesis, University of Macau, 2007. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1874178.
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Amzat, Ajibola Taofeek. "Voting and meaning in Hooggenoeg, Grahamstown : an audience's reception of Grocott's Mail's 2011 municipal election coverage." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011729.
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This thesis examines the meanings that residents of the township of Hooggenoeg (in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa) made of the election coverage in the Grocott’s Mail newspaper during 2011 municipal elections in South Africa. In addition, this study also sought to understand the particular set of ‘normative roles’ played by the paper, both with reference to the well-established body of theory about the normative roles of journalism in a democracy, and in terms of the paper’s own conceptualisation of its role in the functioning of local democracy. Grocott’s Mail, the oldest independent newspaper in South Africa, provided extensive pre-election coverage, which included producing and distributing an unprecedented free edition of the paper. The paper also facilitated a town hall debate in order to encourage residents to vote, and empower them to make a more informed choice about their vote. Three qualitative research methods, namely qualitative content analysis, focus group interviews, and individual interviews were used to examine the relationship between the content provided by the paper and the audience’s process of ‘making sense’ and deriving meaning from the content provided. The study concludes that Grocott’s attempt to encourage democratic culture in Grahamstown, in keeping with the more ‘facilitative’ normative roles that the local media can play, was only partially successful. Much of the election reporting subordinated the voices of the ordinary people, and privileged reporting that focussed narrowly on the voting process, and which foregrounded the views of political parties. Overall this coverage largely failed to resonate with the Grocott’s readers who live in Hooggenoeg (a largely ‘coloured’ area of Grahamstown), whose key concerns in terms of their daily life – such as poverty, unemployment, crime, lack of services – seemed, to them, unaddressed by this election coverage and, consequently, was not as engaging or convincing as the publishers/editors had hoped it would be. It can be also argued that Grocott’s narrow conceptualisation of democracy as entailing only public participation in electoral processes failed to cater for how audiences can be made aware of how they can participate in governance beyond the election period.
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Chari, Tendai Joseph. "Press-citizen interface in a fragile society: mapping press and citizen discourses on election violence during presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe, 2000-2013." Thesis, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22743.
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Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Media Studies, 2016Many African countries have been holding regular elections since the “Third Wave” of democratisation which reintroduced multi-party politics on the African continent, but few of these elections meet the democratic litmus test, due to, among other factors, the prevalence of election violence. The press has been justifiably or unjustifiably indicted for these imbroglios on account of alleged transgressions linked to its overt or covert incitement to violence. In the ensuing political contestations, citizens bear the burden of diminished prospects of credible information occasioned by a highly politicised press. In the Southern African region, there is no better case to illustrate the entanglement of the press in electoral contestations than Zimbabwe. This study is a qualitative exploration of press and citizen discourses on election violence during the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2013. A Foucauldian discursive analytic approach was used to analyse the representation of election violence in two-state-owned and four privately-owned newspapers during presidential and parliamentary elections held over the specified period spanning thirteen years. The study also examined how these press discourses interrelate with citizen discourses. Empirical data were drawn from a corpus of archival textual data comprising hard news and feature articles published in The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Zimbabwe Independent, The Financial Gazette, Newsday and the Daily News. In-depth interviews were conducted with purposively targeted journalists and editors from the selected newspapers. In addition, in-depth-interviews were held with twenty-one (21) regular newspaper readers who were also politically engaged citizens. The main observation was that press representation of election violence was marked by antagonistic discursive practices reflective of the rivulets of political and ideological bifurcation. Consequently, competing and politically expedient journalistic philosophies emerged. The state-owned press used a model of ‘national interest’ journalism while the privately-owned press preferred the ‘human-rights’ model which crystallized into an over-arching ‘activist journalism’. This ‘activist’ journalistic approach found expression through an array of anti-democratic press discursive practices epitomised by selectivity, silence and salience, the consequence of which was that citizens were starved of credible and impartial information. This thesis argues that the anti-democratic discursive practices deployed by the press camps blunted the citizenry’s critical engagement with the exact motivations, causes and manifestations of election violence. These anti-democratic discursive practices have a potential to engender a culture of political intolerance with long-term consequences that predispose society to political conflict rather than consensus building.
MT2017
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Mandizvidza, Lisborn Webster. "Interrogating the role of Zimbabwe‟s print media in environmental reporting." Thesis, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24736.
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Text in EnglishThe study aimed to explore the coverage of environmental news by Zimbabwe‟s print media. The research is premised on the admission that the press covers environmental issues in their reportage. However, the study revealed that there are challenges obtaining in environmental reporting by the three weeklies, namely; Daily News on Sunday, The Financial Gazette, and The Sunday Mail. The use of content analysis and critical discourse analysis in analysing the environmental news stories helped to highlight the shortcomings of media houses and journalists as depicted by their choice of words or phrases, the inclusion as well as exclusion of certain viewpoints. The study analysed environmental news in themes such as imminent decimation of wildlife through poaching, climate change, violation of wetlands, destruction of forests, and land reclamation. To aid the understanding and appreciation of environmental reporting by the press, the study utilised three media theories, namely, agenda-setting, development media theory, and framing. Chapter one focused on introducing the context of the study, as well as justifying it, and adopted the qualitative research method for the study. Chapter two gave an extended review for the study. Chapter three provided the research methodology. Chapter four analysed environmental stories published by the Daily News on Sunday.Chapter five analysed environmental stories which were published in The Financial Gazette.Chapter six gave an analysis of environmental news published in The Sunday Mail. Chapter seven concluded the study by giving a summary of the central argument of the study which was that the Zimbabwean press fell short in effectively and efficiently sourcing, selecting and disseminating environmental news. The chapter proffered some recommendations which point to some areas which require further studies.
Communication Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)
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Chuma, Wallace. "Mediating the transition : The press, state and capital in a changing Zimbabwe, 1980-2004." Thesis, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10539/5844.
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There is consensus in media scholarship that in the best conditions, the media can play fundamental roles as institutions of the public sphere in both established and fledgling democracies. This study applies the critical political economy of the media approach to explore the manner in which the mainstream press in Zimbabwe ‘mediates’ the country’s postcolonial transition through coverage of political contests and political debate. It assumes that how the press frames these pivotal features of democracy is a significant pointer to its role in relation to the public sphere.
While on the one level examining patterns of media framing of elections in the selected six newspapers over a period spanning over two decades, on the other level the study explores the relationship between the press and centres of political and economic power in the transition. This is done with a view to establishing the role and influence of these relations on media functions.
What emerges from this study is that both the state and fractions of capital informed the manner in which the press ‘mediated’ Zimbabwe’s transition. The state was particularly the most influential power centre which, as its legitimacy waned after the first decade of independence, adopted authoritarian and predatory tendencies with the effect of polarising media along highly partisan forms of ‘oppositional’ and ‘patriotic’ journalism. Where nodes of critical-analytical journalism appeared, as did ‘independent nationalist’ journalism in 2000, they were nipped in the bud by unrelenting political and economic constraints.
The study’s major finding is that restrictive media policies aimed at constructing Zanu PF hegemony through the press, as well as pressures from fractions of capital and sections of civil society vying for control of state, combined to seriously compromise the press’s mediation of the political contestation in the transition. It also notes the press’s institutional inability to actively assert its powers of agency against structural constraints, and explains this as a partial inheritance from lethargic Rhodesian institutions such as the Rhodesia Guild of Journalists. Overall, the thesis argues that to nurture a media system that approximates the ideal of a multi-layered and differentiated public sphere which best serves an array of citizens’ interests, Zimbabwe would need radical reforms at the levels of media policy and media practice.
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Vava, Blessing. "China in Africa: China’s media image in Zimbabwe: the case of the Herald and NewsDay." Thesis, 2017. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/24588.
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A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Journalism and Media Studies, 2017This study investigates China’s media image in Zimbabwe. It does so through the lens of two leading newspapers: The Herald and NewsDay during the intense election campaign period of 2013. It deploys both quantitative and qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles drawn from The Herald and NewsDay in order to investigate the image of China in the Zimbabwean media. In terms of theoretical underpinnings, it draws from various media and communication theories. These include the broad area of image studies and framing theory to understand the media-constructed image of China before, during and after the 2013 electioneering period. These communication theories are tested and applied as a means of gaining insights into how the media shape images of China in Zimbabwe and in Africa generally. The findings of this study suggests that during this period the media image of China was projected in a more positive light in The Herald when compared to the negative images and depictions in the NewsDay. It shows that the economic consequence frame dominated the coverage of China thereby portraying the East Asian country as an economic partner, donor, economic saviour, development source and investor in Zimbabwe. The study also reveals that the construction of the media image of China is influenced by interplay of several factors such as the editorial slant of news producers, economic and political pressures influencing the polarised media environment in Zimbabwe.
XL2018
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Adebayo, Joseph Olusegun. "Building capacity for conflict-sensitive reportage of elections in Nigeria." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10321/1363.
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Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy: Management Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015.Nigeria’s vociferous media has the potential to be divided along ethnic and religious lines. Given that most Nigerians view political aspirants in terms of their ethnic and religious lineage rather than political ideology, and since most Nigerians rely on the media for information, there is the tendency to fall prey to biased and insensitive reportage, capable of inciting violence which is elicited by prejudiced information often presented as news, features, commentaries, documentaries, etc. This problem is the major motivation behind this research, which aims to build through training, the capacity of the media to report elections in a conflict-sensitive manner. This thesis develops, through the use of a participatory action research design, an alternative method of news reportage using the peace-journalism model. The model, developed by Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick (2005), encourages journalists to report social issues in ways that create opportunities for a society to consider and value nonviolent responses toward conflict by using the insights from conflict analysis and transformation to update concepts of balance, fairness and accuracy in reporting. It also provides a new route map, which traces the connections between journalists, their sources, the stories they cover and the consequences of their reportage. In addition, it builds awareness of nonviolence and brings creativity into the practical job of everyday editing and reporting. This research holds theoretical significance in that it explicitly identifies conditions that encourage journalists to apply conflict-sensitivity to their reportage, thereby promoting societal peace, particularly during elections. The research findings herein offer a unifying multi-dimensional, conceptual framework which can be used to analyse and discuss the role journalists play in ensuring peaceful elections and demonstrates that they have a constructive part to play when covering sensitive social issues. A training manual has been developed from the findings of the study; it is intended to serve as a template and guide for journalists reporting on elections across the African continent.
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Fu, Wei-Hsin. "Framing Taiwan's independence in the coverage of Taiwan's presidential elections, 1996 TO 2004 an analysis of the U.S. press." 2007. http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.15853.
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Mungwari, Teddy. "Representation of political conflict in the Zimbabwean press: the case of The Herald, The Sunday Mail, Daily News and The Standard, 1999-2016." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/23501.
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Text in EnglishThis thesis explores the representation of political conflict in the Zimbabwean press with a specific focus on the The Herald, The Sunday Mail, Daily News and The Standard. The thesis sought to unpack the representation of political conflict in the four selected newspapers and to compare and contrast state-owned and privately-owned press representation of power, succession struggles and factionalism in ZANU PF and opposition MDC. The theory is undergirded by the framing theory and data was analysed using Critical Discourse Analysis. The thesis contends that the representation of political conflict in Zimbabwe was sensational and polarized. With clearly separate agendas, the government controlled press, The Herald and The Sunday Mail; and the privately owned Daily News and The Standard, have drawn upon different framing practices to represent political conflict in Zimbabwe. By selecting to report on a particular issue and silencing another, through choice of certain headlines, and vocabulary employed, they have produced a construction of events in political parties that satisfy their political agendas in an increasingly polarized political environment. The newspapers became associated with diverging political opinions, showing political parties they support. On the one hand, the state-funded media represented ZANU PF in positive light while the opposition, particularly the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was represented negatively, mainly depicting the party as harbouring a regime change agenda. On the other hand, the privately-owned press was critical of the ruling party, ZANU PF and blamed the party for economic problems, corruption, mis-rule, and abuse of human rights. As a result of this partisan representation of political reality by the two press camps, they became directly implicated in the conflicts thereby ceasing to be credible sources of information. This clearly illustrates the enormity of challenges faced by the press in political conflicts in politically polarised environments such as Zimbabwe. The thesis argues that when reporting political conflicts ideological considerations of the press take precedents at the expense of the informational and educational mandate of the press as ethics and professional interests of the press are pushed to the back stage. Contrary to the view that the press is a neutral and impersonal purveyor of information, it is an active participant in the framing of political conflicts and its framing is ideological. The study has broadened the body of knowledge on the framing of political conflicts in polarised political environments.
Communication Science
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication Science)
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Gadzikwa, Wellington. "Tabloidisation and the coverage of political issues in Zimbabwe - the case of Joice Mujuru." Thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24739.
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The study critically explored the tabloidisation of political news in Zimbabwe by focussing on the coverage of the expulsion of Joice Mujuru from ZANU PF and government by selected newspapers. The study analysed three national dailies across the ownership divide; The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay. The objective of the study was to establish whether or not the decline in standards of journalism and performance in Zimbabwe could be attributed to tabloidisation. The study employed a qualitative methodology through qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews to assess whether the framing reflected tabloid or broadsheet journalism styles. The framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald was pejorative and derisive as she was depicted as corrupt, traitor, inept and a simplistic thinker who cannot handle issues to do with statecraft. Daily News sympathised with Joice Mujuru as a victim of chauvinistic factional politics in ZANU PF, especially, after the death of her husband, General Solomon Mujuru. The study argued that Joice was also depicted as a brave leader who could challenge for the office of the president, if she formed a coalition with MDC –T leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Daily News sought to counter all the negative framing of Joice Mujuru by The Herald. NewsDay framing was sympathetic, like Daily News but was more inclined on creating an image of a moderate leader in Mujuru, one who would be acceptable to all Zimbabweans because she had the critical liberation war credentials that Tsvangirai lacked and Mujuru’s perceived abilities to extricate the country from the economic challenges by mending relationships with the West. Despite the diametrically opposed frames in terms of The Herald versus Daily News and NewsDay, all the newspapers are undergoing the damaging process of tabloidisation by employing tabloid styles and formatting in their political news coverage through sensationalism, trivialisation and emotionalism. It was argued that the media needs self-introspection and recommitment to ethical and objective journalism as the watchdogs of society.Communication
D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)
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Mushore, Washington. "Media construction of reality : a critical analysis of the reportage of land reform in Shona and English Zimbabwean newspapers : the case of Kwayedza, The Herald, The Daily News and The Daily Mirror, 2000-2008." Thesis, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/10201.
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The study critically explored the language of reportage of the Zimbabwe Land Reform programme as presented in selected Shona and English newspapers in Zimbabwe. The study focused on Kwayedza, The Herald, The Daily News and The Daily Mirror. The objective was to find out whether or not the verbal and visual languages used in reporting the Land Reform programme left readers more knowledgeable about the programme, and then adopt a critical attitude towards the Land Reform exercise. The study used qualitative textual analysis to unpack the language frames used in representing Land Reform in the selected newspapers. Some relevant critical voices from readers were also enlisted in order to support or complicate interpretations of how Land Reform was portrayed in the selected stories.
Kwayedza and The Herald unequivocally supported the Land Reform. This official stance was contested in Chapter Four in which The Daily News adopted an ideological position opposed to both the idea of the Land Reform and the confiscatory way the land was repossessed. The Daily News’ extremely negative criticism of the Land Reform was challenged and then modified in The Daily Mirror. The Daily Mirror criticised both the government’s extremely supportive view of the Land Reform. The Daily Mirror also openly criticised The Daily News for refusing to acknowledge the historical inevitability and necessity of the Land Reform. The Daily Mirror advanced a perspective that suggested that Land Reform programme should benefit the masses more than the elites. It was argued that in contexts of political change such as that of Zimbabwe, newspapers take a stance and support particular ideological interests.African Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)
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Msiza, Nkosinathi. "Editorial politricks : a content analysis of selected newspapers' coverage of the ANC, DA and EFF during the 2016 local government elections in South Africa." Diss., 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/24733.
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Global research shows that media owners tend to influence the editorial direction of their newspapers. Such influence generally tends to be in line with the media owner’s economic and / or political interests. Naturally, this is a challenge because media is regarded as the fourth estate and is supposed to be an objective yet effective channel for the citizenry to make informed decisions about their world. The study seeks to find out if the owners of four daily newspapers in South Africa, based on their political proximity; may have influenced their newspapers to be biased in favour or against any of the three biggest political parties contesting the 2016 Local Government Elections. This study is an exploratory and descriptive content analysis based on an Agenda Setting theoretic framework – supported by framing analysis and game framing. Findings reveal the correlation between the media owner’s interests and the biased reporting within their respective newspaper. This suggests that although media may not be directly or explicitly forced to adopt a specific ideology, it can be argued that political relations with media owners can influence editorial decisions. Therefore, it can be inferred that media owners of The New Age, The Citizen and The Star influenced editorial content of their newspapers during the 2016 local government elections. Given the findings of this study and the elections scheduled for 2019 in South Africa, it is important for more political communication studies to be conducted in order to establish guidelines for unbiased news reporting across all media – including newspapers. Alternatively, to compel media owners to declare their bias towards and against specific political parties in each news content, upfront. Particularly important during election period, is the need for each media (including newspapers) to have an independent editor – potentially one from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to ensure that each piece of content produced is validated as bias or impartial.Communication Science
M.A. (Communication Science)
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Graça, Francisco Varandas Soares. "A política e os media: o enviesamento da imprensa portuguesa em 2009 e 2015." Master's thesis, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10071/14833.
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Com o objetivo de avaliar a existência de enviesamentos partidários na cobertura política dos jornais
portugueses em termos de tom, volume e enfoque temático, e que eventuais fatores contextuais
influenciam esse enviesamento, foi realizada uma análise de conteúdo de quatro jornais, PÚBLICO,
Expresso, Jornal de Notícias (JN) e Correio da Manhã (CM), durante os anos eleitorais de 2009 e 2015.
Os resultados apontam para que os partidos mainstream sejam favorecidos a nível de volume de
cobertura, mas prejudicados em termos de tonalidade de artigos. Encontraram-se diferentes padrões de
enviesamento, notando-se, em termos de tom, uma ligeira preferência do CM e Expresso por partidos
de direita e uma menor antipatia do JN por partidos mais à esquerda, enquanto no PÚBLICO a dicotomia
relevante é mainstream/franja (com os últimos a serem alvo de cobertura menos negativa). Verificou-se
a importância do enfoque nas acções de campanha na cobertura jornalística, em detrimento de temas
substantivos, principalmente no caso dos partidos mais pequenos. Em termos dos fatores contextuais,
constatou-se uma tendência jornalística pelo partido incumbente que se apresentasse às eleições;
observaram-se ainda diferentes tendências em períodos distintos do calendário eleitoral, sobressaindo
comportamentos opostos ao nível da evolução de neutralidade consoante se tratem de partidos catch-all
ou de franjas, além de se ter reconhecido um aumento da politização de 2009 para 2015, com a
percentagem de peças neutras a diminuir para todos os partidos. Em suma, comprovou-se a existência
de algumas inclinações partidárias na imprensa portuguesa, apesar de esta estar longe dos enviesamentos
presentes noutros países com sistemas de media desenvolvidos.In order to evaluate the existence of party bias in the political coverage of the Portuguese press in terms of tone, volume and thematic focus, and what possible contextual factors have an impact on this bias, a content analysis of four newspapers, PÚBLICO, Expresso, Jornal de Notícias (JN) and Correio da Manhã (CM), during the electoral years of 2009 and 2015 was carried out. The results point out that the mainstream parties are favoured in terms of volume of coverage, but impaired in terms of the tone of articles. Different bias patterns where found, with CM and Expresso showing a slight preference for right-wing parties and JN being less critical of left-wing parties, while in PÚBLICO the relevant dichotomy was mainstream/fringe parties (with the latter having less negative coverage). The importance of press coverage focusing on “campaign actions” was verified, to the detriment of substantive issues, especially in the case of smaller parties. In terms of contextual factors, there was a tendency for news slant favouring the incumbent party; different trends were observed in different periods of the electoral calendar, with neutral news coverage increasing or decreasing whether parties were classified as catch-all or marginal. An increase in politicization from 2009 to 2015 was also observed, with the percentage of neutral stories decreasing for all parties. In sum, some partisan preferences in the Portuguese press were proved, although theses biases are far from the ones present in other countries with developed media systems.