Party of Regions remains the leader in news but in the first week of October the gap between the ruling party’s representatives and other political figures decreased in terms of the coverage and direct speech Private TV channels demonstrated somewhat better performance in terms of news presentation standards while Pershy Natsionalny showed stories with one viewpoint only The law enforcement and defense ministries are most frequently mentioned institutions, Party of Regions and Batkivshchyna are the attention leaders among political parties The number of direct speech sequences by Party of Regions, President and Prime Minister decreased at all channels, but still they constitute a half of all air time allocated for direct speech of politicians Political news. Within the first week of October 30% of all news output focused on political developments in Ukraine, the figure quite close to the first week of September (28%). The largest share of such news reports was shown by Pershy Natsionalny (47%) and (46%), the smallest share by 1+1 (12%), just like in previous months. TVi has the largest share of the international news not related to Ukraine – 35%. The key topics for reports are as follows: domestic policy, government’s work (38%, during the first week of September - 31%), social sphere (31%, during the first week of September - 31%, in August - 37%). ICTV covers elections more than others (33%), followed by Pershy Natsionalny (29%) and TVi – 27%. Standards of news. 17% of news included several points of view (during the first week of September - 16%). TVi provided the highest share of such news – 31% (during the first week of September – 34%, in August - 23%), followed by 1+1 (28%), which, however, had the smallest share of political news. Pershy Natsionalny broadcasted the reports with one viewpoint only. 21 key events were discussed in news from different viewpoints (during the first week of September – 14, in August – 15, in June – 10, in April and February – 16 each). The half of the reports (51%) were presented with conflict and negative contexts (during the first week of September - 45%, in August - 50%, in June – 42%, in April – 50%, in February – 55%). The largest share of such reports was observed at Channel 5 (66%), 1+1 (60%) and TVi (60%). The smallest share of conflict and negative context is specific for Pershy Natsionalny – 14% (during the first week of September also Pershy Natsionalny – 14%). Novy Channel had the largest share of positive contexts (9%), in September Pershy Natsionalny was the leader – 22%. During the first week of October every fourth report contains commentary by experts (25%, during the first week of September - 21%, in August - 21%). Political institutions, parties and personalities. The attention to political parties, political figures and political institutions constitute 24%, 47%, 64%, respectively (during the first week of September - 19%, 43%, 64%, in August - 20%, 39%, 63%, in June – 10%, 32%, 60%, in April – 10%, 37%, 66%, in February – 16%, 41%, 71%). The attention to political parties is the highest for the whole year of monitoring, but it is noticeably less than on the eve of elections 2007. The most frequently mentioned political institutions include law enforcement and defence agencies - 23% (during the first week of September - 17%, in August - 18%, in June – 12%, in April – 21%, in February – 24%), followed by the President – 13%, courts and judiciary system – 13%. Local government bodies were most often evaluated in dubious and negative manner - 25% as well as the Presidential Administration – 29% (during the first week of September Ministries had 21%, Parliament of Ukraine – 20%, in August the General Prosecutor’s office had 20%, local government bodies had 19%). Party of Regions remained the leader of attention - 9% (during the first week of September - 7%), followed by Batkivshchyna – 6% (in September - 5% in August – 6%), CPU and UDAR (5% each), Ukraine-Forward! – 3% (during the first week of September - 3%, in August – 2%). Political persons. Attention. The leaders of attention in news programs during the first week of October were President V. Yanukovych - 12% (during the first week of September - 11%, in August - 10%, in June – 11%, in April – 7%, in February – 11%), Prime Minister M. Azarov - 7% (in September - 10%, in August also 10%, in June - 5%, in April - 5%, in February - 7%), Yu. Tymoshenko – 4% (during the first week of September - 3%, in August - 6%, in June -3%, in April – 12%, in February – 9%). 24 politicians are mentioned in 1% and more reports (during the first week of September - 20, in August - 24, in June – 16, in April – 18 politicians, in February - 28). 87% of mentions about politicians are in positive and neutral context (during the first week of September - 87%, in August - 83%). 33% of all mentions about politicians are related to the Party of Regions (during the first week of September - 57%, in August 43%), Batkivshchyna – 18% (in September - 18%, in August - 26%), Ukraine- Forward! - 6% (in September - 3%, and in August - 5%), CPU - 6% (in September - 6%). Channels and political figures. 5th channel allocates the largest coverage for Batkivshchyna - 47% (in September - 47% as well), followed by TVi – 25% (in September - 37%), STB – for the Party of Regions (51%). CPU is most broadly covered by Inter and 1+1 (12% each), UDAR – by Inter (6%, during the first week of September – Inter as well – 9%), Ukraine – Forward! – by Pershy Natsionalny – 9%. The attention to the ruling coalition is 2.5 times more than the one to the opposition: 63% vs. 25% (during the first week of September – the difference was 3 times more – 71% vs. 23%). Political persons and parties. Direct speech. 27% of direct speech is allocated for President Yanukovych (15%) and Prime Minister Azarov (12%) (during the first week of September - 40% - 20% per each). 5% are allocated to V. Klychko and V. Polishchuk, who commented tragic events at Caravan shopping mall.The total share of direct speech allocated for the Party of Regions is 36% (during the first week of September - 66%, in August - 57%), Batkivshchyna -11% (during the first week of September - 10%, in August - 11%), CPU - 6%, UDAR - 5%, Ukraine – Forward! - 4% (during the first week of September - 6%). TVi provides the largest share of the direct speech allocated for Batkivshchyna representatives -22% (in September and in August TVi as well – 18% in each month). 58% of the direct speech at Pershy Natsionalny is allocated for the President and the Party of regions. CPU has the largest share of direct speech at Inter (16%, during the first week of September at TVi - 10%), UDAR has the largest volume of direct speech at Inter (10%, in September - 19% at the same channel), Ukraine-Forward has the largest share at TV Ukraine – 11%. Monitoring research was carried out by the Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP) with participation of scientists of the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine using the method of content analysis of prime-time news programs of 8 leading Ukrainian TV channels – Inter, 1+1, Novy Kanal, “Ukrayna”, SТB, ICTV, UT-1, and TVi. This analysis is part of continuous media monitoring conducted by the Academy of Ukrainian Press since 2002. This monitoring research became possible due to the support of the American people. Monitoring results shall be the exclusive responsibility of the Academy of Ukrainian Press and not necessarily reflect the opinion of USAID and Internews Network. The research is also funded by the International Renaissance Foundation and British Embassy in Ukraine. The opinions and conclusions in this report remain those of its authors. Contact persons:
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