Moderator Bias in Television Coverage of an Election Campaign with no Political Advertising
Sammanfattning
TV journalists may influence election outcomes through the way in which they cover elec-
tion campaigns. This is perhaps more of an issue in countries with no political advertising,
where the only connection between politicians and voters through the most important
medium, television, is mediated by TV journalists. The present article analyzes journalist
moderator behavior in an election campaign in which there was no political advertising
and no party-controlled election TV programming. Data were collected from election
cross-examination programs on the two TV channels covering the 2005 general election
in Norway. There was little consistent information for voters across programs. There were significant biases in moderator treatment of politicians along the left/right political divide.
The present article may contribute to increased consciousness among journalists of the
possibility of moderator bias in this sort of journalistic campaign coverage. Implications
for the outcome of the election are discussed.
Källa
Nordicom Review 31 (2010) 2, pp. 79-94
Samlingar
Fil(er)
Datum
2010-11Författare
Haug, Magne Martin
Koppang, Haavard
Svennevig, Jan
Redaktör
Carlsson, Ulla
Nyckelord
Moderator bias
election campaigns
campaigns on television
Publikationstyp
article, peer reviewed scientific
ISBN
978-91-86523-11-4
Serie/rapportnr.
Nordicom Review
2/2010
Språk
eng