Critical analysis of the Democratic Republic of Congo national tv coverage of the 2011 elections. Case study of Kinshasa city

1.9. Research Methodology

To the realization of this study, we use the quantitative method. The latter allowed us to identify airtime on national television that granted the 11 candidates for the presidency of the republic in 2011 elections As for the data collection tools, we used the technical literature and the internet and the data provided to us from our sources in Kinshasa..^7(*)

This is for the documentary technique of harvesting information: definitions, theories and other information relating to the object of the study, as learned from books, dictionaries, previous scientific work of the Internet, etc.

We have also included some political broadcasts of animated propaganda on national television; the goal was to see whether or not she gave interest to the smooth running of the electoral operations in his work.

1.10 Organization of the study

This work constitutes of five chapters.

This work is divided into five chapters, the first talk of the introduction, the second chapter focuses on the literature Review, the third chapter deals with the role of the media during the election period, the fourth is spent contenet Analysis of Congolese National TV Coverage, and the fifth was based on chapter Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation.

Chapter Two: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 MEDIA AND ELECTIONS

The behavior of the media during an election campaign is actually very important. Independence editorial, integrity and professionalism are the cornerstones of a healthy media coverage of the elections. The absence of autonomy or journalistic responsibility may, where it is combined with a too homogenous media landscape, distort the results of the elections.

Yasha Lange in the vademecum on media and elections Council of Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex publishing explains why it is necessary that there is a diversity of media accessible to the various interest groups and supported by various structures. However, this also creates a spirit of competition and could worry, in particular, the proliferation of channels of television and the rise of competition in the broadcasting market. The battle for appropriating the public has a negative effect on the coverage of elections?

Legislation concerning the coverage of the elections by the media is not necessarily restricted to a debate without issue between those who preach for a freedom of speech without brake and those seeking to promote fairness. Pluralism, the editorial independence and journalistic professionalism are indispensable prerequisites recognized by all.^8(*)

At the same time, there is a broad consensus on the limits of the freedom of the press. This is not only to General limitations such as the transgression of civil and criminal legislation in the racist publications, defamation, etc., but also other limitations on coverage of the elections; for example, reports out of the polling stations, before the opening of the polls, would be considered as undesirable by most of the prophets of the first amendment.

The legislation can certainly guarantee it only fair treatment. The experience of many countries and of many media shows the value of self-regulation, internal guidelines and statutes editorials (separating the responsibilities of management and editorial activity).

In several countries, the (public) broadcast media have certain (statutory) obligations. Even if it has no justi?cation philosophical to treat electronic media in a manner different from the written press, the examples show that this dual approach is accepted and meeting a broad consensus.

2.1.1 THE PRINT

An overview of the European press to note a remarkable diversity. Some countries have a national press vigorous (United Kingdom, Netherlands). In other countries, the national securities market is relatively low while the regional press is particularly strong (France, Germany).

Some countries have not tabloids rowdy national dailies (Netherlands, France, Italy), while in others this press has the strongest prints (Sweden, United Kingdom, Germany). The number of newspapers sold per 1,000 inhabitants also differs significantly: from 472 in Sweden and 320 in the United Kingdom and Germany to 156 in France and 113 in Italy. Some countries have a long tradition of self-regulation systems (Sweden), while in others; this type of organization is relatively new or missing.

The press of Western Europe markets has been relatively stable over the past ten years. The changes were obviously huge in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In this region, the traditional strong circulation dailies have disappeared or changed their editorial line and hundreds of new newspapers have been created.

Should keep in mind these differences to explore options in the regulatory field. Countries have often chosen to enact legislation specifically because it was suited to the national media.

2.1.2 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The regulation concerning the coverage of the elections by the written press is not speci?c. The general freedoms and restrictions on these freedoms apply. Where they exist, the rules concerning the elections concern only newspapers owned by the State.

"Fundamental freedoms" are valid for the press. Freedom of speech is enshrined in national constitutions and conventions International (Universal Declaration of human rights, international pact of the United Nations relating to civil and political rights, European Convention on human rights or ECHR). Freedom of the press is generally enshrined in national legislation on the press.

Finally, the freedom of information allows the dissemination of information but also implies that citizens have the right to be informed. Some countries have a law on the information and access to information.

These rights are not unlimited. All countries have legislation to protect the rights of the individual and prohibit abuse of freedom of speech. These restrictions are usually on defamation, intrusion into private life, racial discrimination, national security, etc.

The relevant provisions can be found in the law on the press, in special laws on defamation and respect for private life or be provided by other laws, for example the penal code or the civil code. But international conventions also bring restrictions to freedom of speech. For example the ECHR stipulates that the freedom of expression must be guaranteed in any level in a democracy.

Seymour-Ure in The British press and broadcasting since 1945, Oxford, Blackwell and his colleague Manasian, d. in The 1997 British election campaign and the media indicate that the decline of the party press is neither ideological nor the result of a government edict, but imposed by the market.

A newspaper can no longer produce pure for a party propaganda if he wants to have a significant circulation as readers seem to prefer media that clearly take their distance from political parties. In the current competitive market of print media, it is essential to address a wide audience reflecting across the political spectrum and not to alienate the moderate electorate.

Another reason is also that affiliation to a political party is not a real problem. The press is generally quite multifaceted and voters have the opportunity to have another point of view by simply buying another newspaper. Therefore, there is no great need that newspapers fully conform to the balance. It is only when no other voice is heard or that it has that limited distribution outside the capital that some print media policy trend can be seen as a problem.

2.1.3 REGULATION OF THE PRESS

The same authors continue by saying that countries have become aware of the forces market and the plurality and independence of the press and have however not adopted regulatory speci?c for the coverage of elections by newspapers.

There is an exception. State-owned newspapers were asked to observe the principle of equality in their way to account for the campaign. When funding comes from public funds, the corresponding obligation to represent the views of the entire public is justi?able.

This obligation should, however, not be made too strictly, because it could have the counterproductive effect of the newspapers concerned stop purely and simply interested in the subject. In fact, the stories and analyses of campaign may not always be reported purely impartially. Therefore, this obligation must stress the need for an overall fair and balanced approach rather than requiring each article to be "objective".

However, this is not so simple. In Western Europe, the logs of which the State owns have disappeared or have been marginalized. In Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, on the other hand, some still have a major release (not because they are relatively cheap). But far from complete one any "public service" and be "fair and balanced", they often do the opposite. State-owned newspapers are door-word of the Government.

There are many examples of biased Government newspapers. In Russia, for example, State-owned newspapers Rossiiskaya Gazeta and Rossiiskie vesti (respectively organs of the Government and the Presidency Russian) strongly supported President Boris Eltsine during the 1996 campaign. This has not only damaged the credibility two newspapers, but this has also raised questions about the effectiveness of the regulations, because they were subject to requirements promulgated by the Central Election Commission "to abstain from any preferential treatment.

Even if they were more balanced, these logs should still overcome the scepticism of the public regarding their editorial independence.

In Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR, several countries gave a free political advertising space to the various parties in newspapers owned by the State, quite similar to the free advertising time given in most countries on public radio and television channels.

When countries choose this route, you can recommend that political parties may not use this space at their leisure, but in the form of a summary standardized their election manifesto. This right could be granted equally (given that newspapers can increase their volume and that voters who are not interested can easily turn the pages, which are not possible in the case of the broadcast media) and obviously applies to newspapers owned by the State.

However, it should be take care not to overload the newspapers free advertisements, as has been the case of Rossiiskaya Gazeta in December 1995 (parliamentary elections in Russia). The newspaper had published free electoral texts for all parties or blocks.

Because he had only a limited space, this obligation has faced a formal obligation: the publication of the lists of the electoral blocs. Ultimately, the conflict was resolved in favour of the lists. These have filled the pages of the newspaper during the campaign and had however always not been all published the day of the elections.

Paid political advertising in the written press is generally allowed, unlike paid advertising on the broadcast media (see corresponding paragraph). In principle, there is perhaps no valid reason that we make this distinction between the press and the broadcast media (radio and television), yet it is.

There may be to this several reasons: the written press is generally much less regulated. Television advertising has can - be seen as having more influence and it was perhaps feared that the substantial ?nancial resources required by television advertising destroy equality of opportunities.

In countries where paid advertising on television is not allowed, the established parties currently provide large budgets to intervene in the press when the campaign is in full swing. Is it in the interest of the public to curb this practice? The debate is open. However, could consider reducing this practice at a lower level for reasons similar to those that are highlighted in the section on the broadcast media. Editors will oppose is probably arguing that this violates their freedom of speech.

However, this is not entirely true, because this incursion would not editorial. If advertising on television is not permitted or campaign expenses are limited, there is no principled reason to not also limit advertising in newspapers.

* ⁷ POTER, IAN, elections training curriculum, Impacts media, and election program, Cambotra, 2003

* ⁸ CAMMACK, DIANA, Election Reporting: a Practical Guide to media monitoring, London: Article 19, 1988. CARVE, RICHARD. Media and Election Index, Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Project. http://www.aceproject.org, 2001.