Abstract
By employing the theoretical framework of framing, the present paper attempts to examine the Icelandic media’s coverage of the 2013 parliamentary election by paying particular attention to coverage of public opinion polls and the policies of the political parties, i.e. the “horse-race” frame and the issue frame, and to examine media’s reliance on experts for interpretation of election news. Seven online news media, two newspapers, two radio stations and two television channels were monitored for 25 days prior to Election Day, i.e. from April 2 to April 26, 2013, - resulting in 1377 election news stories. The findings show, for example, that 29.8% of all the election news stories had public opinion polls as their primary angle while 12% of the stories were primarily issue-oriented. In addition, the media rely on experts for interpretation of the polls; five of the 10 most interviewed or quoted sources on public opinion surveys were political science experts who were affiliated with universities. Finally, news coverage of polls was generally amplified as media outlets had a tendency to report on public opinion polls that were commissioned by other media.
Highlights
In the summer of 2012, unusual circumstances occurred leading up to the presidential election in Iceland
The present study found ample evidence for the tendency among the Icelandic media to report on elections as a “horse-race” where public opinion polls provide the primary news angle
Not completely methodologically equivalent, these findings are in line with the results from election studies in Sweden and Norway (Strömbäck & Aalberg 2008) and a Michigan study that showed that journalists’ “horserace” experts are often affiliated with political science departments (Freedman & Fico 2004)
Summary
In the summer of 2012, unusual circumstances occurred leading up to the presidential election in Iceland. The Icelandic media had never before had to cover 15 parties before elections and once again, Stöð 2, based its programming decisions on public opinion polls by putting the main focus on the six parties that were likely to surpass the 5% threshold and get their candidates elected to Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament (OSCE 2013). Findings from a previous study on election coverage in Iceland indicated that the media rely to a great extent on experts, especially political scientists within the academia (Kolbeins 2012) This reliance on experts may be an artifact of the emphasis on public opinion polls as journalists tend to contact experts for comments and interpretations of these polls. The present paper throws a new light on election coverage in Iceland and adds to our understanding of journalistic practices in the weeks leading up to parliamentary elections
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