News at top channels: the month after the elections

The share of political news including two viewpoints increased compared to October; Inter and 1+1 feature the largest share of reports with two viewpoints

The attention to political parties, politicians and political institutions equals the level of attention in February 2012; attention to political institutions grows

Throughout 2012 it is the “enforcement agencies” (i.e. the law enforcement and security service) that has been most frequently mentioned in the news; the party of regions and the opposition are the leaders of attention among political groups in December

Attention to the representatives of the ruling coalition exceeds that to the opposition by 2.4 times

Attention to representatives of political parties and direct speech are the best balanced at Inter and ICTV

In December the share of direct speech allocated for the representatives of government exceeds that allocated for the opposition by 2.6 times; on the eve of the elections it was 3 times more

During the first week of December 22% of news reports were related to political events in Ukraine (the first week of October – 30%, the second week – 27%, the third week – 34%, the fourth week – 39%). TVi and Inter feature the largest shares – 38% and 30%, respectively. 1+1 news include 66% of non-political reports (the last week of October – 65%). Novy Channel has the largest share of international news – not related to Ukraine – 36%.

The share of the reports produced by the channels’ own reporters increased from 40% in October to 57%.

Domestic policy, government’s activities (41%) and social sphere (38%) constitute the key topics for the news (the last week of October – 37% and 25%, respectively). Road accidents, crime (11%), culture (10%) and state budget – 2013 are the most frequently mentioned events.

17% of reports included several viewpoints (the first week of October – 17%, the second week – 16%, the third week – 17%, the fourth week – 15%). Inter features the largest share – 24% (the third week of October – 32%, the fourth week – 28%). During the first week of December two viewpoints on political events were provided in 27% of reports (the first week of October – 18%, the second week – 12%, the third week – 19%, the fourth week – 14%). Inter and 1+1 feature the biggest shares – 38% and 39%, respectively.

18 key events were covered in the news from different positions (the first week of October – 21%, the second week – 20%, the third week – 21%, the fourth week – 19%). The different positions were most frequently provided regarding the case of D. Komarnytsky, the state budget – 2013, the case of Yu. Tymoshenko.

60% of the reports (the first week of October – 51%, the second week – 52%, the third week – 48%, the fourth week – 48%) were presented in conflict and negative contexts (in April – 50%, in February – 55%). The biggest shares belong to 1+1 (73%), TVi (69%) and Inter (68%). Novy Channel’s news has the smallest share of negative and conflict context – 35%. The average share of positive context is 8%, TRC Ukraine has the largest share of positive context – 17%.

In December the events are mostly commented by citizens and officials – 41% and 29%, respectively (the fourth week of October - 27% and 29%).

Attention to political parties, political persons and political institutions constituted 16%, 36% and 70% (the fourth week of October – 25%, 46%, 64%), in other words these are figures similar to October 2011 and February 2012. Throughout the whole year the so-called “enforcement agencies (Ministry of the Interior, Security Service of Ukraine, etc) are the most frequently mentioned institutions – 24% in December (the fourth week of October – 27%, the first week – 23%, the second week – 24%, the third week – 20%), the President and the Parliament – 15% each. The doubtful and negative assessments were mostly related to the Cabinet of Ministers (28%), local government bodies (26%) and the Presidential Administration – 25%.

The leaders of attention in news programs were: Party of Regions (7%) and the opposition in general – 6% (the fourth week of October – 7%, the Party of Regions – 5%). Their evaluations in the news were mostly positive.

In the news programs of the fourth week of October the leaders of attention in news programs were the following: President Yanukovych – 10% (the last week of October – 11%), Prime Minister Azarov – 8% (7% on the eve of the elections), A. Yatsenyuk – 6% (4% in the fourth week of October), V. Lytvyn – 5%. 26 politicians are mentioned in 1% and more reports (the first week of October – 24, the second week – 19, the third week – 24, the fourth – 20). In December 86% of mentions about politicians are provided in neutral context (the second week of October – 87%, the third week – 88%, the fourth – 82%). The doubtful and negative context was dominant in the reports about D. Komarnytsky (100%), M. Azarov (32%), Yu. Tymoshenko (24%), Yu. Karmazin (24%).

In December the total of 21% of the direct speech was allocated for President Yanukovych (12%) and Prime Minister Azarov – 9% (the last week of October – 37%), A. Yatsenyuk was allocated with 10%, V. Lukyanov and V. Lytvyn – 6% each, O. Yefremov and Yu. Karmazin – 5% each.

40% of all mentions about the politicians related to the Party of Regions (the last week of October – 28%), 22% - Batkivshchyna representatives (the last week of October – 18%), 8% - other pro-government parties, 6% - Communist party of Ukraine, 1% each – to UDAR and Svoboda parties. The attention to politicians representing the Party of Regions and Batkivshchyna is almost equal only at Inter – 31% and 28%, respectively. CPU has the highest share of attention at UT-1 – 12%. During the first week of December the attention to the ruling coalition representatives exceeds that of the opposition by 2.4 times – 66% vs. 27% (the fourth week of October – 2 times – 53% vs. 26%, the third week it was almost equal – 50% vs. 42%, whereas at the second week it was three times more (64% vs. 21%, the first week featured the difference by 2.5 times – 63% vs. 25%).

37% of the direct speech is allocated for the representatives of the Party of Regions (the first week of October – 36%, the second week – 39%, the third week – 36%, the fourth – 28%), Batkivshchyna – 18% (11% in the first two weeks of October, 18% - the third week, 12% - the fourth week). The direct speech allocated for Svoboda is the largest at 1+1 channel – 8%. The representatives of the government not affiliated with any party are provided with direct speech mostly at ICTV (17%) and UT-1 (14%). CPU has the largest share of direct speech at Inter and STB – 6% each. In the first week of December the share of the government representatives’ direct speech was 2.6 times more than that of the opposition, and during the fourth week of October it was 3 times more.

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, Pershy Natsionalny 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: Valery Ivanov, AUP President

Oksana Voloshenyuk, AUP Director

Tel: 067 504 9802

Email: info@aup.com.ua

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