Does the media take sides? : an in-depth analysis of the daily English press during the General Elections of April 2003

Abstract

Political campaigns during elections are an enormous source of information and news for journalists and editors. Much of this information, unfortunately or not, is tainted with bias because it is produced from either political parties or election candidates. Therefore the journalist and editor must decide what to publish and what to neglect. They must keep in mind the voters that will decide whom to vote depending on the information they receive by the press. This study has analyzed various factors by which one can judge whether a newspaper was in favour or against a particular party or issue. The newspapers that were analyzed are "The Times of Malta" and "The Malta Independent'', during the period of the electoral campaign that led to the elections of the 12th April 2003. These newspapers claim of being independent dailies, and throughout this study one has tried to come to a conclusion regarding their objectivity by analyzing their content from the front page to the back page, including the editorials, letters to the editor, cartoons and columnists. This study will look at the ownership of these newspapers and whether these inflict severe influence on the news covered. This in-depth analysis of daily independent newspapers has tried to find which side have these two dailies supported throughout this electoral campaign.