The Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) presents the results of the content analysis of news broadcasts of the leading Ukrainian television channels within the project “Monitoring of Political News” (October 2003 – April 2005).
The research method is content analysis of media materials for one entire week of each month.
The project is carried out by research teams of the Academy of Ukrainian Press and the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine through the support of the International Renaissance Foundation and the US Embassy in Ukraine. The team leaders are Dr. Nataliya Kostenko and Dr. Valery Ivanov.
POLITICAL NEWS OF THE LEADING UKRAINIAN TELEVISION CHANNELS
(17th Wave)
The key index in April: 1) the extent of Ukrainian political news coverage still remains high, 2) the number of references to the information source has increased, 3) more news reports present two points of view, 4) more events are controversially discussed, 5) a wider range of information has been published with focus on events with high political relevance, 6) less comments by the journalists.
The loyalty to the new government contradicts the traditional strategies of most TV channels. Much attention is paid to the institutes of state power; “the new opposition” looks non-significant, not numeral, terse; controversy news initiated by the government were in the focus; there are codes of doubt in the key figures presented; However, the interest in opposition parties and persons has also increased.
The political news during the first four months of year 2005 had been “Ukraine-centered”: the share of news on domestic affairs is almost half of all news reports (49% in February and 43% in April). The most domestic-orientated channel is Tonis (55% in March and 67% in April), the least – ICTV (30% in March and 31% in April). Starting with February, the share of news about Ukraine without references to the information source has been decreased: from 11% in February to 7% in April. There are also fewer reports with journalist’s personal comments (89% in December 2004 vs. 46% in April 2005).
The most resonant events of the week are: B.Kolesnikov’s arrest (14%), the activity of President V.Yushchenko (9%), social problems and rise of prices (6%). The activity of Prime-Minister Y.Tymoshenko is often spoken about (5.3%) as well as the delay of her visit to Moscow (4.2%). Interrogations of the government staff members by the Ministry of Interior were given 4.4% of the attention and the G.Gongadze case - 4.2%. The B.Kolesnikov case dominates as the main event in news programs on TRK Ukraina (19%) and Tonis channels (15%). The interrogations of the government staff members by the Ministry of Interior are most frequently broadcasted on UT-1, Inter, STB (9-10% and 3-4%). The news broadcasts on 1+1, Novy Kanal and 5-th Channel give most attention to the Prime-Minister’s activity, including her actions with oil-traders and her upcoming visit to Russia (8-12%, including 1+1 – 7% of the reports about the oil prices, Novy Kanal – 7% of all news are about the delay of the visit to Moscow, 5-th Channel – 4% about Y.Tymoshenko’s activity in general). The news programs on Tonis and Novy Kanal pay more attention to the G.Gongadze case (7-8%), on TRK Ukraina – to problems of local power (8%).
Two points of view are presented in 19% of the reports (in March 21%). During the first four months of 2005 an ambiguous way of presenting events is most characteristic for the news programs on Tonis, 1+1, Novy Kanal, and 5-th Channel. The most discussed events are the activities of local power branches and B.Kolesnikov’s case (67% and 56% of reports with two points of view respectively.). Events concerning new opposition, re-privatization, protest actions and political reform are analyzed from the different perspectives (33-38% with two points of view). The activity of President V.Yushchenko is shown unambiguously even if it just belongs to the context to the main event. Several points of view are often given while speaking about the activity of Prime-Minister Y.Tymoshenko. Some events appear less unambiguous when they are mentioned in the context of other news: when the Melnychenko’s tapes or Fond “Ukraine” are spoken about as the main event, only one point of view is shown, when those events appear in the context to the main event – 20-25% of the reports give two points of view.
In 2005, the context of discussing events in TV news has changed essentially. In November 2004, 15% of all news were given in a positive context, whereas the share of such news is 5-7% in February-April 2005. At the same time the conflict context has increased: from 29% in December 2004 to 42-44% in March-April 2005.
Among the main political institutions the dominating role is played by the President and the Interior Force Departments, which are mentioned in ¼ of all domestic reports (25-26%). However, the attention to the President is decreasing (41% in February – 32% in March), whereas the attention to the Interior Force Departments remains constant (22-25%). The attention to the judicial system has increased since the beginning of the year – from 14% in February to 18% in March and 19% in April.
Among political groups the opposition has become the leader of attention for the first time: Regiony Ukrainy (5%), the opposition in general (4%), SDPU(o) – 3%. “Our Ukraine” is mentioned in 2% of all reprots. As a rule, different political forces are shown in positive-neutral context. The biggest share of ironic or negative assessment has received the new government - 2%.
The leaders of attention among political key figures are in April: V.Yushchenko (22% vs. 30% in March), Y.Tymoshenko (14% in April and March) and B.Kolesnikov – 13%. The attention to V.Yanukovych has only slightly changed – 9% in February and 7% in March-April. If comparing the level of attention to political parties and political persons, one can notice that the opposition is mentioned in 50% of all reports about relevant political groups whereas members of V.Yushchenko’s team are mentioned in 63% of all these reports.
The share of direct speech of President V.Yushchenko amounts to 9% (872 sec) in April (8% (1021 sec) in March) and is the same as those of his team members V.Stretovych, E.Chervonenko and Y.Kluchkovskuy (9-10%). The Prime-Minister has the same index (8% in April and March). The opposition, however, has the biggest access to direct speech on channels like Inter (34%), Novy Kanal (27%), TRK Ukraina (22%), ICTV (22%).
In general, during the first three months of the new government Ukrainian TV channels show their loyalty to the new power, paying more attention to its main structures, showing it in a neutral context and giving a lot of direct speech time. Politicians of the new opposition get the most critical assessment have. Nevertheless, a high attention to controversy news can be noticed, concerning the activities of the President’s team members and a critical assessment of some key figures. The increase of interest in oppositional groups indicates that most TV channels are not following a fixed strategy.
