Role of Journalist during the European Election Campaign 2014 in Poland: Guide or Entertainer?

Karolina Brylska 1 *
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1 University of Warsaw, Poland
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 5, Issue September 2015 - Special Issue, pp. 114-128. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/5694
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ABSTRACT

The article presents the results of a study of the behaviours of journalists as hosts of current affairs programs during election campaign. The goal of the study was to determine whether the discourse created by journalists is informative and explicative, i.e. to what degree does it attempt to explain to viewers the importance of the European Parliament elections and the operation of EU institutions, present candidate positions, their competencies and proposals, and interpret important political and social phenomena that accompany elections. The study was conducted as a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the content and discourse of current affairs programs broadcast by nationwide television stations in Poland two weeks prior to the European Parliament elections in May 2014. The study determined that journalists who hosted the broadcasts under review failed in their role as guides to the complicated political realities of the Euro elections campaign. Journalistic practices described in the article push political discourse towards theatricality and carnival-like qualities, but fail to improve the voters’ level of knowledge of political processes and hence fail to engage them into shaping these processes.

CITATION

Brylska, K. (2015). Role of Journalist during the European Election Campaign 2014 in Poland: Guide or Entertainer?. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 5(September 2015 - Special Issue), 114-128. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/5694

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