Original scientific paper
Framing of the President: Newspaper Coverage of Milan Bandić and Ivo Josipović in the Presidential Elections in Croatia in 2010
Marijana Grbeša
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Building on the idea of news framing which is assumed to have a certain influence
on people’s perceptions of the world around them, the paper examines
how the major newspapers in the country used certain frames to report
about the two front-running candidates in the second round of the presidential
elections in Croatia in 2010. The paper first examines if there were any differences
between Ivo Josipović and Milan Bandić in terms of their visibility
in newspaper reports. Secondly, the paper investigates if and how newspapers
employed valenced frames to report about the candidates. Thirdly, the paper
speculates how the news framing of the candidates may have affected the outcome
of the elections.
The results show that three valenced news frames dominated the news coverage
about the candidates: success frame (winner – loser), suitability frame
(suitable – unsuitable) and integrity frame (honest – dishonest). Although Milan
Bandić was the most visible candidate, the press favoured Ivo Josipović,
framing him as suitable for the position, honest and decent, and as the likely
winner. On the other hand, Milan Bandić was framed predominantly as dishonest,
unsuitable and the loser. The paper finally suggests that the news framing
of the candidates may have contributed to the victory of Ivo Josipović.
Keywords
framing; Croatia; presidential elections; Milan Bandić; Ivo Josipović
Hrčak ID:
99494
URI
Publication date:
28.3.2013.
Visits: 2.332 *