site.btaMonitoring Shows Dominant Presence of GERB, Socialist Party in Media Coverage of Election Campaign

Monitoring Shows Dominant Presence of GERB, Socialist Party in Media Coverage of Election Campaign

Sofia, March 16 (BTA) - The presence of the two dominant political forces in Bulgaria, GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), in the news media prevails during the campaign ahead of the March 26 general elections. The same is also valid for the two political leaders, GERB's Boyko Borissov and BSP's Kornelia Ninova, according to the results of media monitoring conducted by the Institute for Social Integration - Sofia (ISI) show. The results were presented at a BTA-hosted news conference Thursday.

The analysis covers 4,645 information items by 20 Bulgarian media outlets, including TV channels, printed and online media, for the period from February 24 to March 16.

The analysts identified a considerable advantage of GERB with 2,712 information items against 2,088 for BSP, as well as of Borissov with 2,712 information items against 846 for Ninova.

The media coverage of small parties is eight-fold smaller than GERB's and six times smaller than BSP's. Reports about their leaders are respectively 12 times less than those of Borissov and eight times less than those of Ninova.

GERB and its leader enjoy the most positive image in the media coverage.

The analysts saw an obvious bias in the media coverage for two caolitions, DOST and Yes, Bulgaria!, which get the most negative reports. This can be seen in the manner both the political forces and their leaders are mentioned.

Analyses of the messages of politicians from the two leading political forces, GERB and BSP, show a certain degree of similarity. Both parties talk about 'Europe' but in a different context and with different implications. The national economy is a key topic in their rhetoric but the focus on measures differs. Other subjects that the two camps share are young people, crime, incomes and education.

GERB's messages are usually in the realm of the traditional Right, although recent weeks have seen a clear shift to a stronger social policy. BSP prefers subjects related to national security and production. Its messages, however, has recently included element of the nationalist and patriotic rhetoric.