Font Size:
Political Bias in Talk Shows: A Case of MQM in Local Bodies Election 2015
Abstract
The study through content analysis examines the extent ofanchorperson's political bias in Pakistani political talk shows. Itargues that for political talk shows to be effective spaces for publicpolitical discussions, fair and unbiased role of anchorpersons isessential. As a case, anchorpersons treatment towards MQMpolitical participants in the talk shows before local bodies' elections2015, was studied. Through random sampling 22 prime-timepolitical talk shows of the leading news channels in which MQMpolitical leaders participated, were selected. To measure biaspractices political bias instrument was developed. Political bias ofanchorperson was studied through six indicators i.e., the directionof the introduction of political talk shows, ranks of participants,question tone, questions allegation, time given to participants andinterruption by anchorperson. The findings show high bias ofanchorpersons against MQM participants in prime time politicaltalk shows. Political bias is highest in question design as comparedto coverage and content bias.
References
Babad, E., Peer, E., & Benayoun, Y. (2012). Can multiple biases occurin a single situation? Evidence from media bias research.Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(6), 1486–1504.Babad, E., Peer, E., & Hobbs, R. (2012). Media literacy and mediabias: Are media literacy students less susceptible tononverbal judgment biases? Psychology of Popular MediaCulture, 1(2), 97–107.Baum, M. A., & Jamison, A. S. (2006). The Oprah effect: How softnews helps inattentive citizens vote consistently. Journal ofPolitics, 68(4), 946–959.Beattie, G. W. (1982). Turn-taking and interruption in politicalinterviews: Margaret Thatcher and Jim Callaghan comparedand contrasted. Semiotica, 39(1-2), 93–114.Bernhardt, D., Krasa, S., & Polborn, M. (2008). Political polarizationand the electoral effects of media bias. Journal of PublicEconomics, 92(5-6), 1092–1104.Boukes, M., & Boomgaarden, H. G. (2016). Politician seeking voter:How interviews on entertainment talk shows affect trust inpoliticians. International Journal of Communication, 10, 22.Brewer, P. R., & Cao, X. (2006). Candidate appearances on soft newsshows and public knowledge about primary campaigns.Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(1), 18–35.Budak, C., Goel, S., & Rao, J. M. (2014). Fair and Balanced?Quantifying media bias through crowdsourced contentanalysis. Public Opinion Quarterly, 80(S1), 250–271.Cao, X. (2010). Hearing it from Jon Stewart: The impact of the dailyshow on public attentiveness to politics. International Journalof Public Opinion Research, 22(1), 26–46.Clayman, S. E., Heritage, J. (2002). The News interview: Journalistsand public figures on the air. New York, NY: CambridgeUniversity Press.Craig, G. (2010). Dialogue and dissemination in news mediainterviews. Journalism, 11(1), 75–90.D’Alessio, D. and Allen, M. (2000). Media bias in presidentialelections: A meta-analysis. Journal of Communication, 50,133–56.DellaVigna, S., & Kaplan, E. (2007). The Fox news effect: Media biasand voting. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3), 1187–1234.Ekström, M., & Lundell, A. K. (2011). Beyond the broadcastinterview. Journalism Studies, 12(2), 172–187.Entman, R. M. (2010). Media framing biases and political power:Explaining slant in news of campaign 2008. Journalism,11(4), 389–408.Ferre-Pavia, C., Sintes, M., & Gaya, C. (2015). The perceived effectsof televised political satire among viewers and thecommunication directors of political parties: A Europeancase. European Journal of Cultural Studies. 19(4), 299–31.Gerth, M. A., & Siegert, G. (2012). Patterns of consistence andconstriction: How news media frame the coverage of directdemocratic campaigns. American Behavioral Scientist, 56(3),279–299.Grebelsky-Lichtman, T. (2010). The relationship of verbal andnonverbal behavior to political stature: The politicalinterviews of Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Journal ofPolitical Marketing, 9(4), 229–253.Hagerty, B. (2010). TV's political host with the most. BritishJournalism Review, 21(1), 19–27.Heritage, J. (1985). Analyzing news interviews: Aspects of theproduction of talk for an overhearing audience. In T. A. VanDijk (Ed.). Handbook of Discourse Analysis (pp. 95–119). NewYork, NY: Academic Press.Hopmann, D. N., van Aelst, P., & Legnante, G. (2012). Politicalbalance in the news: A review of concepts,operationalizations and key findings. Journalism, 13(2), 240–257.Hutchby, I. (1992). The Pursuit of Controversy: Routine Skepticismin Talk on “Talk Radio”, Sociology, 26(4), 673–94.Hutchby, I. (2006). Media Talk: Conversation Analysis and the Study ofBroadcasting. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Kahn, K. F., & Kenney, P. J. (2002). The slant of the news: Howeditorial endorsements influence campaign coverage andcitizens' views of candidates. American Political ScienceReview, 96(02), 381–394.Khan, M.K., Yousafzai, F.U. (2012). Anchorperson: An emergingphenomenon in the electronic media. Journal of MassCommunication and Journalism, 02(10).Luku, E. (2013). A look at the public sphere in talk show programsin Albania. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. 4(10), 574-579.McNair, B. (2000). Journalism and democracy: A millennial audit.Journalism Studies, 1(2), 197–211.McQuail, D. (1992). Media performance: Mass communication and thepublic interest. London, Newbury Park, Calif: SagePublications.Miller, A., Coleman, R., & Granberg, D. (2007). TV Anchors,elections & bias: a longitudinal study of the facialexpressions of Brokaw rather Jennings. VisualCommunication Quarterly, 14(4), 244–257.Rendle-Short, J. (2007). Neutralism and adversarial challenges in thepolitical news interview. Discourse & Communication, 1(4),387–406.Waddle, M., & Bull, P. (2015). Playing the man, not the ball:Personalization in political interviews. Journal of Languageand Social Psychology, 35(4), 412-434.
Full Text: PDF
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
