Media 'Backed' Macedonia Govt in Poll
| 06 June 2008 |
Skopje _ In a report issued on Friday, Macedonia’s Broadcasting Council reported significant pro-government bias in election campaign media coverage.
In its first published assessment of the media coverage of the 1 June snap polls, the Council said that the state-owned public broadcaster Macedonian Television, MTV, dedicated two hours more media coverage to the ruling centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party campaign than to the opposition campaign led by the Social Democrats.
The Council's study also reported that MTV's second channel, largely dedicated to the Albanian-speaking community, favored the ruling Democratic Party of Albanians, covering its campaign for five hours more than those of its opponents.
The private broadcasters Alsat M TV and Telma TV spread their coverage slightly in favour of the opposition parties, according to the study, while Sitel TV showed bias towards VMRO-DPMNE. The preliminary report found that A1 TV and Kanal 5 TV generally spread their coverage time equally among political entities.
The Council noted that some broadcasters transmitted interviews with candidates in shows not related to the elections, thereby breaking the regulation on equal coverage.
It also observed that several media, including the two MTV channels, broke the official 24 hour pre-poll silence on May 31.
The Council's study also reported that MTV's second channel, largely dedicated to the Albanian-speaking community, favored the ruling Democratic Party of Albanians, covering its campaign for five hours more than those of its opponents.
The private broadcasters Alsat M TV and Telma TV spread their coverage slightly in favour of the opposition parties, according to the study, while Sitel TV showed bias towards VMRO-DPMNE. The preliminary report found that A1 TV and Kanal 5 TV generally spread their coverage time equally among political entities.
The Council noted that some broadcasters transmitted interviews with candidates in shows not related to the elections, thereby breaking the regulation on equal coverage.
It also observed that several media, including the two MTV channels, broke the official 24 hour pre-poll silence on May 31.
