The Role of the Press in an Election

2010-01-02T03:53:00.000-08:00

The study of elections has been of interest to political scientists and media researchers. Considerable debate has surrounded the definition of the term "Elections" to the extent that there are still some disagreements among scholars. Rather than contribute to the confusion, this study prefers to accept Manhood’s (1983: 2) assertion that a definition is normally accepted more because it is useful than because it is true.

Harrop and Miller (1987) defined an election as a .formal expression of preferences by the governed, which are then aggregated and transformed into a collective decision about who will govern, -who should stay in office, -who should be thrown out, -who should replace those who have been thrown out. (Harrop and Miller 1987: 2). It needs to be said that an .election is a process rather than an event. (Schlemmer and Hirschfeld 1994: 194). Moyo (1992) adds that the opportunity to choose through periodic elections who will govern is widely regarded as the hallmark of representative democracy (Moyo 1992). Although this Blog is concerned with the role of the press in an election, it is however important to discuss why it is important to study elections? This is done to lay some background on how the press should be involved in an election.

Why study Elections?

Harrop and Miller (1987); and Moyo (1992) gave some arguments regarding the importance of studying elections in a political scientist point of view, but without the importance of the media in psyche. For convenience, this study discusses the reasons why it is important to study elections following a discussion done by Harrop and Miller (1987). Harrop and Miller gave the following reasons why it is important to study elections: Firstly, elections are studied to find out about society and politics in general. Elections provide a major test of the political system: Butler (1981: 9) argues that .in these moments of decision, with argument at its height and parties at their most active, much of the essential nature of the country’s politics can be revealed. (cited in Harrop and Miller 1987: 9). An analysis of the electoral system and electoral behavior reveals class dominance in society either by manipulation or by intention (Harrop and Miller 1987). In the words of Moyo (1992),A study of elections is therefore a window of analysis, which enables the policy analyst to understand the workings of a democratic political system. It can be argued that, in the final analysis, the determination as to whether a country is democratic or not is ultimately settled by that country’s electoral system. Put differently, the question depends on how and why those who govern are chosen by those whom they govern. The more democratic the electoral system, the more likely that those who govern will be sensitive to the wishes of the electorate in policy making in the spirit of the aphorism that citizens have a right to be heard and officials have a duty to listen (1992: 164). Secondly, elections are studied to analyze political attitudes and ideologies. The studying of political attitudes and ideologies emanates from the assessment of why people vote the way they do? In attempting to analyze the political attitudes and ideologies, Harrop and Miller (1987) argue that the following questions will arise:·Do people have strong views about the political issues?·Do people have coherent ideologies?·How stable are people’s political attitudes over time?·Are people willing to defer to leaders on policy?Studying voting behavior, therefore tells us something about mass political psychology?Thirdly, elections also provide valuable indicators of social and political change. In analyzing social and political change, Harrop and Miller (1987) note that one will be trying to answer the following questions:·Is class voting declining, or are social classes changing so much that they need redefinition?·Are people becoming more or less interested in politics?·Are people becoming more or less ideological, more or less attached to the political system, more or less disillusioned with party politics, more or less influenced by mass media?Studying elections through time may reveal not just trends in the elections themselves, but also trends in underlying social, economic and political process.Fourthly, elections are important for educational purposes. Elections are occasions for the elites and the electors to teach each other some fine things about politics. The electoral process may itself teach both the governed and the governors something about democratic ideas. The educative function, according to Hare (1873), cultivates the higher qualities of a man’s nature, foster a love of a country, a regard for public duty, and a just self respect. (cited in Harrop and Miller 1987: 265). Mill (1859) also believed that, .political participation would produce a more informed, cooperative and public-spirited population. (cited in Harrop and Miller 1987: 265).If the study of elections justifiable answer the questions noted above, then there is no need for further justification. It should be stressed that this study is not concerned about elections or answering the above questions, but it is concerned with the role of the press during the electioneering period. The most fundamental aspect during the electioneering period is the election campaign.

The Importance of the Election Campaign.

An election campaign is a process whereby parties present their manifestos and agendas to the electorate through acceptable means. The election campaign period clearly constitutes the highest level of politicization of the people, but depoliticization of the people is caused by political violence, and intimidation leading to a low voter turn out during the polling day. During the election campaign parties and candidates use various channels in campaigning, ranging from the use of political rallies to the use of the press. The press tends to be more vigilant, and the coverage of politics expands during the election campaign to include more of advocacy, information and analysis than normal (Harrop and Miller 1987). The importance of campaigning is that the electorate and the candidates learn from each other. Schoenbach (1983) notes that:Many studies have shown that voters do learn from election campaigns. They get to know the goals and policies of candidates and parties better than they did before; they become aware of the major problems facing their country; and they learn some facts about the election itself-for example the candidates, the number of seats in political institutions and which party holds majority support in parliament to be elected . Election campaigns, for all their faults, may be the major learning experience of democratic politics (cited in Harrop and Miller 1987: 266). Election campaigning, according to Harrop and Miller (1987)5 is effective at educating the electorate about the term and limits of the government. The politicians on the other hand also get some form of knowledge during the election campaign. The knowledge is got through the analysis of opinion polls, and this educates politicians to develop a sense of the electorate’s concerns. In addition, Hilton (1993) notes that:. political .advertising and communication during the election campaign is as essential for modern democracy as a ballot box. These are useful methods for enabling the candidates to make their points to the electorate in the most appropriate way using the most dominant medium of the day [italics mine] (cited in Negrine 1996: 152). 2.2.3.

The Length of an Election Campaign.

The length of an election campaign varies in different countries (Moyo 1992, Darnolf 2000). Moyo (1992) argues that either the Electoral Law or the Constitution does not precisely stipulate the length of the election campaign. Moyo, however, argues that the length is indirectly stipulated if one analyzes Section 29 (2b) and 86 (1) (b) of 1990 Electoral Act. The Act stipulates that the date of the poll should be between 21 and 45 days after the proclamation of the poll dates. Moyo (1992) argues that the incumbent President can either have a minimum campaign period of 21 days or an extended period of 45 days depending on how the incumbent visualizes the probability of winning.

Free and Fair Election Campaign. The election news coverage and political rallies should be free and fair. The freeness and fairness of an election campaign should be constitutionally guaranteed. Steytler et al (1994) argues that free and fair elections are a bedrock of a democracy. But, however, there is a need for press freedom, since without it, elections could not be considered free and effective expressions of the voter’s wishes (Keane 1991: 19).The freeness and fairness of an election campaign instill confidence among the electorate on the electoral system. .All the mechanisms, put in place to ensure a free and fair election must therefore be geared towards increasing public confidence in the election process, to ensure not that the election is generally free and fair, but also that it is perceived by the people to be free and fair. (Steytler et al 1994: 119, Darnolf 2000). While Moyo (1992: 14) aptly adds that .elections must not only be free and fair, but must also to be seen to be so., Armstrong and Edgeworth (1990: 60) would put this differently, .there is no justice unless it is also perceived as justice..Elections must be free-All parties must be given and guaranteed the right to campaign unhindered, and this should be constitutionally guaranteed. Steytler et al (1994) argue that, .for an election to truly reflect the will of the people, a reasonable degree of free political expression must be possible. (1994: 119). The electorate on their behalf should have access to information regarding the parties and their rallies, while the candidates and their parties should have access to the electorate so that they can canvass for support. In addition to this the people should have a constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, assembly and association as they wish, and to freely engage in political activities in a specific and orderly manner, whatever the political party they belong to. This means that they should not have to seek permission or authority to hold a public meeting, provided that the meeting is conducted in an orderly manner and does not disturb public peace. Elections must be fair-Parties should be limited in their activities during the electioneering period by signing the election conduct. The voters on the other hand should cast their ballot papers in the ballot box without an outside influence (Potgieter 1991, Moyo 1992, Steytler et al 1994, Darnolf 2000, Harrop and Miller 1987). Nogxina (1991) argues that elections must therefore be preceded by the removal of both legal and structural obstacles to fairness (cited in Steytler et al 1994: 119). The national media must play a fair and unbiased role such as providing equal publicity to all political parties. The press must simply put to the public what the various political parties are saying or have on their political agenda and leave it to the electorate to make its own choice.

Channels of Election Campaign.

The election campaign is conducted in two fronts: political rallies and the press. Since this study is concerned with the role of the press in an election, it is however important to discuss the importance of a political rally. The press also covers political rallies.

The Importance of a Political Rally. The importance of a political rally in the Zimbabwean context dates back to the liberation struggle years. During the liberation struggle the freedom fighters organized pungwe6. The pungwe served as an instrument for politicization and mobilization of the rural population. The freedom fighters used the pungwe to solicit some support from the villagers (Herbst 1990, Darnolf 2000). A political rally is a meeting between the politicians and the electorate. Rallies are used for party awareness amongst the electorate. They are used as a forum to compete for voter interest. To assess the importance of a political rally, one needs to draw the argument from the ruling party of Zimbabwe: Zanu-PF. According to Zanu-PF, a political rally is the most important communication channel of the election campaign. Without it, it is not possible to win an election: "Of all things, you can never win an election by sitting here in Harare printing manifestos, talking to the radio, advertising, writing in the newspapers, without meeting the people" (Movern Mahachi: The Herald 02/27/95).A political rally is therefore the most effective channel of political communication between the politicians and the electorate. McQuail (1987) argues that political rallies are most concerned with directing; reinforcing and activating existing tendencies towards socially approved objectives like voting. Harrop and Miller (1987) on the other hand, argue that voters learn more from lively campaigns. Interested and informed voters generally learn more than those who start off with limited knowledge and enthusiasm. This means that political rallies decrease 'knowledge gaps. between the knowledgeable. and the ignorant' (1987: 266). What is interesting during a rally is that public speaking at political rallies, provides some of the best opportunities for political parties and candidates to make their ideas known and for the electorate to question, argue with, and criticize them in a dynamic, instant feed back situation. (Sreberny-Mohammadi 1990: 46). On the other hand, Ngugi (1995) note that in African countries, newspapers are primarily an urban phenomena, so it is important for politicians to organize political rallies in the rural areas so as to canvass for support. Even though a political rally has not disappeared from the tool kit of the modern political party, it is now regarded as a complement to the media (Darnolf 2000). Assuming that the candidates and political are known to the electorate, the rallies are then transformed into advertising platforms for candidates and political parties. What emerges from this is the fact that a rally should show harmony and togetherness of the people rather than debating important issues (Potter 1996). Darnolf (2000) and Moyo (1992) stress that in the Zimbabwean context rallies are subject to approval by the police and more often the opposition parties are denied such vital opportunities to hold rallies. These political rallies are supposed to be covered by the press; which is also significant during the electioneering period. Seymour-Ure (1974) notes that:. one cannot talk sensibly of a national campaign at all in the absence of mass media. The national campaign is formed by the continuous interaction between the behavior of party leaders and managers and that of the mass media (cited in Negrine 1994: 154).In addition to this, Negrine (1994) quotes Blumler and Gurevitch saying: "[M]odern election campaigns have to a considerable extent become fully and truly television campaigns" (Negrine 1994: 155) and to some extent become a debate in the press. Potter (1996) however, notes that .using the press does not guarantee victory. But not using the press can guarantee defeat. (1996: 319). In light of press usage, Negrine (1996) notes that political campaigns have resulted in the .personalization of politics, and the professionalization of actors in the development of press strategies. (1996: 150), and this explicitly tells us the importance of the press in an election.

The Ideal roles of the Press in an Election. The press plays a vital role during the electioneering period. The press provides the electorate with information and analysis; and it is also an open forum of public debate and discussion (Harrop and Miller 1987, MMPZ 2000, Darnolf 2000).

Information and Analysis. The press should provide the electorate with information relating to the election process (MMPZ 2000, Article 19 2000), this could increase the electoral participation during voting time. Participation by an informed electorate is fundamental to the success of a democracy. To suggest that political participation is only possible within the context of the state machinery is tantamount to saying that what is good for the state is good for everyone, a suggestion which is fundamentally false as far as what is known about the diversity of human condition goes (Moyo 1991). Political participation by the electorate needs to be aided by an effective, vibrant and free press, which will ultimately help in the safeguarding of democracy. Steytler et al (1994) believes that "democracy can be safeguarded only where the free flow and dissemination of information, views and opinions relevant to the electoral process are constitutionally guaranteed" (Steytler et al 1994: 154). A key requirement in ensuring such participation is a robust and independent .but generally a fair press, which provides the electorate with necessary information. It is the responsibility of the press to ensure that the democratic ideal flourishes. This, it can do only if the right to freedom of the press and expression is guaranteed (Steytler et al 1994, MMPZ 2000). Freedom of the press and expression are guaranteed in internationally signed documents and these should help governments in ensuring that democratic principles prevail, namely the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Article 19], and the African Charter on Human Rights [Article 9]. While Article 19 states that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion, and expression; this right includes the right to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers; Article 9 states that: Every individual shall have the right to receive information and every individual shall have the right to express and disseminate his/her opinion within the law.

These internationally approved documents set the tone clear on freedom of expression, of which an election is part of that expression.In providing information and analysis the press should provide a truthful, comprehensive and intelligent account of the day’s events in a context, which gives them meaning. In doing so, the press should separate facts from opinion and present both sides of the disputed issue (MMPZ 2000). Negrine (1994) argues that as the press provides information to the electorate, the electorate increases its knowledge of the parties and their leaders. This may play a part in determining their choices during the election time. This, however, needs a press that is credible. Negrine (1994) adds that, when party loyalties are weak, the press may contribute to the voter’s decision about choices. The more .believable. the press is, the more attention that the electorate turns to that press. This implies that the press has an effective and intensive impact in shaping the voting preferences. This is possible only and only if the press is deemed to be credible in providing information and analysis to the electorate and also assuming a credible press influences voter preference.The influence of the press can best be seen in terms of its ability to reinforce political choices. Harrop (1987) note that, .newspapers exert at most a small direct influence in changing voting behavior among the readers.. But in phrasing this conclusion in terms of .changes in voting behavior. one is masking what is most significant influence of the press, namely its long-term ability to capture and sustain support for either party (Negrine 1994: 117, Blumler and Gurevitch 1995).The public service role of the press is to inform and educate the electorate by focusing on issues and policies presented by the parties and candidates and also by independent experts. This implies that the press does more than simply giving parties printing space. The responsibility of the press in informing the electorate is to adopt a more critical stance towards the politicians, their policies and their manifestos (Blumler and Gurevitch 1995, Negrine 1994). Different political players, in the form of political analysts, correspondents, and researchers should be pulled to the press programmes to deal with issues, policies and manifestos. The result of this is that election issues are replayed from different angles, and the electorate is informed about the political and the electoral process timely, and this is important for the preservation of democracy (Blumler and Gurevitch 1995, Negrine 1994, Steytler et al1994). In the run up to the elections, voter education becomes another significant role of the press besides just informing the electorate on matters relating to rallies and analysis of pressing issues. Gilder (1994) notes that .most analysts concede that the most telling rule-of-thumb-yardstick for measuring the success of an election is a high voter turn out, and that voter education plays an important role in the process. [italics mine] (cited in Schlemmer and Hirschfeld 1994: 209). The high voter turn out is supposedly heralded by the press and to some extent chartered by voter education organizations.Skeptics who place little value on voter education as a means in enabling potential voters to cast their vote, nevertheless, concede that the role of the press, election observers, and also the election commission plays a crucial role for the inexperienced voters in ensuring that they have access to voter education and to the ballot box (Friedman and Stack 1994).Last but not least the press should assist the contesting parties to attract support among the electorate by covering their rallies and disseminating information relating to the venues, times and dates for the rallies. In light of this Darnolf (2000) adds that the press is the primary source of voter information.2.2.7.2. Open Forum of Public Debate and Discussion. The press should provide a forum for parties and candidates to articulate their views (Article 19 2000). Thorton (2000) argues that although elections are the most visible fundamental characteristics of democratic societies, these elections are assumed to be supported by discussions among citizens at all levels of the society about issues of importance to the nation, this is effectively facilitated by the media both print and broadcast. Curran (2000) argues that the press should assist the parties to constitute themselves and clarify their objectives. The press should do this by giving contesting candidates and parties a platform to question the policies of each other. This can be achieved by inviting commentaries and opinion 50 pieces from the contesting parties and candidates and also by inviting independent experts. In cases like this, the press will be providing a robust open forum for the exchange of opinion, through comment and criticism. The press should encourage discussion, that is, the right of individuals to engage in critical-rational and informed debate on personal, local, national, and the broader issues, which affect the individual and his social space without fear or favor. The discussion will ultimately promote critical-rational voting, that is, the right of individuals to chose their representatives at various levels of government, under an institutional background, which entrenches human freedom dignity (Moyo 1991).As a robust open forum of public debate and discussion, the press assists the electorate to agree by .consensus. by debating contrasting opinions on matters of importance to the citizens. This also helps the citizens to gain some knowledge on electoral issues. Mill argues that:The only way in which a human being can make some approach to knowing the whole of a subject, is by hearing what can be said about it by persons of every variety of opinion, and studying all models in which it can be looked at by every character of mind (cited in Steytler et al1994: 154).If the above objective is to be accomplished, the press should be accessible to all of the competing parties and candidates, and also to political commentators and analysts. This brings to light the argument that the press should be objective.

Objectivity implies that the press should give equal opportunities to all competing parties and candidates to clarify their objectives. Buttersby (1989) argues that objectivity is .taken for granted as the cornerstone for a free press and a pre-requisite for the functioning of the press in a democratic society. (cited in Nel 1989:32). Every political party within a multi-party environment must enjoy the right to equal access to the national press, and the press needs to be reliable and impartial if it needs to be seen by the electorate as credible. In addition to this, though debatable, each party must have the right to set up and run its media. While some authors believe that there can be no doubt about the powerful role the press can play in an election (Hoffman: 1990: 1), others see the press as generally ineffectual in fashioning choices and attitudes, serving the function rather of reinforcing enduring political opinions (Raubenheimer 1991: 9). Hiebert, Ungurait and Bohn (1985) believe that:[m]ost research evidence supports the hypothesis that mass media can create a new opinion more easily than they can change existing ones, but that reinforcing existing beliefs is the main effect of mass media communication experiences (1985: 248);While Graber believes that .the mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about. (cited in Steytler et al 1994: 155).

Press Politics & Democracy

The Role of the Press in an Election