South African Elections 2004

ANC dominating media coverage in first two weeks of January

With today?s opening of Parliament the political heavyweights have their sights firmly set on the national election later this year. And the media will be a target for all the political parties. Media Tenor, the Institute for Media Analysis, situated in Pretoria, reports on how the media image of political parties was reflected in certain daily and weekly newspapers and on television in the first two weeks of January 2004.

It doesn?t take much in-depth research to determine that the ANC dominates the media coverage in South Africa. The question, however, is what image of the ANC and other political parties comes to the fore and what issues are being placed on the news agenda.

In a Media Tenor analysis of 5 073 reports that appeared in all the Gauteng daily newspapers, seven national weekly newspapers, the various SABC television news channels and E-News in the first two weeks of January of 2004, the ANC received an overwhelming 69% of political coverage.Following the ANC was the DA (13, 4%), the IFP (5%) and the NNP (2%).

The positive and negative image of the ANC, the DA and the IFP do not differ that much according to the representation in the dailies, weeklies and on television news. The ANC received slightly more positive than negative coverage. There is, however, a slight difference with regard to the news issues which can linked to the reports on the various political parties.

In the reports on the ANC, the issue of the economy is addressed the most, followed by social services and democratic values.Crime and AIDS are noticeably lower down the list.In reporting on the DA, the economy and social services play the biggest role. In the fewer reports on the NNP, crime was the most reported topic, while on the IFP most reports focused on the media.The latter shows an emphasis on an issue outside of pressing political aspects, but highlights the IFP?s ongoing battle with the media.

Although Patricia de Lille?s Independent Democrats received a tiny percentage of the coverage on political parties (less than 1% compared to the ANC's 69% and the DA?s 13, 4%), De Lille beat most of the leaders and representatives of the smaller parties in terms of coverage.

If the ANC is taken out of the equation, Tony Leon garners 61% of the media coverage, De Lille 13%, Marthinus van Schalkwyk 7% and Kgosi Mangope 6%.In the analysis of the small number of available reports on party leaders, De Lille beat Leon in terms of positive reporting. De Lille and Leon are followed by Van Schalkwyk and Mangope.

With an eye on the election Media Tenor's research shows that the ANC has a massive advantage in terms of media coverage. It will be difficult for other parties to compete with the ruling ANC in terms of the levels of awareness it enjoys among the electorate.

Smaller parties must therefore pay much more attention to the possibilities of bringing their policies and other party issues to the attention of the voters through the media. Of the smaller parties, the DA is doing just that. Approximately 58% of the media coverage that the DA received came from its own sources. By way of contrast, only 28% of the news on the IFP came from the party itself.

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IFP in media boost ? opposition parties gearing up 

This year is a watershed year in South Africa's history. Not only will the country be celebrating 10 years of democracy, it will also be staging its third democratic national election. As South Africa?s political heavyweights gear up for the April 14 poll, much of their focus will be on the media through which their plans, policies and promises will be communicated to the country's electorate.

Media Tenor, the Institute for Media Analysis situated in Pretoria, reports on how the media image of political parties was reflected in certain daily and weekly newspapers and on television.

Since it is the ruling party and hence the source of much of the media?s information, it should come as little surprise that the ANC dominated the media coverage. The question, however, is what image of the ANC and other political parties comes to the fore and what issues are being placed on the news agenda.

In a Media Tenor analysis of 10 409 reports that appeared in all the Gauteng daily news-papers, seven national weekly newspapers, the various SABC television news channels and e.tv news from January 1-25 2004, the ANC received an overwhelming 58.7% of political coverage, followed by the DA (13%), IFP (10.3%) and NNP (6.3%).

Overall, the positive and negative image of the ANC, DA, NNP and the IFP do not differ that much according to the representation in the dailies, weeklies and on television news. But there are some exceptions; the IFP?s strong showing on television news and the NNP?s positive rating in the daily media and, to a lesser extent, on television.

What emerges quite clearly is the way the DA, IFP and the NNP have seemed to align their major policy issues with those of the ruling party. However, the IFP do appear to be attempting to break the mould by choosing to focus on crime and Aids, while the NNP putsocial services and crime on its agenda. Nevertheless, it is notable that in the reporting on the ANC, DA and IFP it is ?political system?, ?internal affairs? and ?economy? which occupy the top three spots. It is the same in the case of the NNP, with the exception that ?social services? and ?crime? feature more prominently than ?economy?.

The DA (46%) and the ANC (42%) received proportionally the greatest share of policy coverage. This shows that the DA was actively promoting its policies in the media prior to the launch of its election manifesto, while the share of policy coverage the ANC received was boosted by the release of its election manifesto and its dominance of party political coverage in general.

Although the Independent Democrats received a tiny percentage of the coverage on political parties, its party leader Patricia de Lille was the darling of the media. Not only did De Lille beat most of the leaders and representatives of the smaller political parties in terms of coverage, she also received the most favourable rating.

ThisDay continues to produce more news on political parties than any other daily, producing approximately 30% more coverage than The Citizen, Beeld and Business Day. The Star was the most balanced with 1% more positive than negative reports, though it did carry considerably less party political news. The Sunday Independent provided the most informative coverage in terms of policy issues.

At the lower end of the market where political party coverage is scarce, Sunday Sun returned a balanced rating of 0% while the rival Sowetan Sunday World showed a proportionally high negative rating. The tabloids, however, did focus a proportionally high percentage of their coverage on policy-related issues.

With the election just around the corner, the research shows that the ANC holds a massive advantage in terms of media coverage. It would be very difficult for the other parties to compete with the level of awareness it enjoys among the electorate. Therefore, to get their messages to the voters the mainstream opposition parties and the other smaller parties will need to focus and refine their strategies in order to promote their policies through the media. The IFP have managed to do just that, as have the DA and the NNP. But it?s that missing ?X-factor? which means the opposition is likely to face an uphill challenge come the election.