Media data charts - Presidential and Parliamentary elections 2011 download pdf
Introduction to media monitoring
EU EOM missions comprise a media component which focuses on media performance. Media monitoring is conducted using international methodological standards of quantitative and qualitative analysis used by the Osservatorio di Pavia and the European Institute for the Media. Media monitoring is more specifically centred on the coverage of the media during the electoral campaign and includes the right of access, allocation of coverage and balance in a given country's electronic and printed media. In addition, media monitoring observes the tone of the media outlets' coverage.
A media monitoring unit is observing a sample of electronic and printed media to assess the coverage of the elections in the media:
The electronic media sample is chosen according to national coverage, both private and public. For printed media the sample includes mass circulation newspapers, reflecting opposition and government views. Both printed and electronic media are monitored on a daily basis by a team of 5 national monitors. The media unit monitors the selected media outlets during peak-time viewing and listening time-slots throughout the electoral period.
As well as measuring the time and space allocated to political actors, parties and candidates, the media unit will also measure the tone of media coverage according to a three-level scale (positive, negative, and neutral) in order to assess the overall tone of media outlets towards contestants and the different political parties contesting the elections.
The media unit has a team of 5 national monitors, monitoring the sample of mass media, under the supervision of a Media Analyst, based in Kampala. The monitors are trained in quantitative and qualitative analysis. The media monitors report on a daily basis to the Media Analyst on their findings. Once the findings are analysed by the EU EOM, chart reports will be produced on the performance of the media and an assessment will be made on its role in the overall evaluation of the election process.
The methodology employed in media monitoring is both quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative component of the monitoring includes an analysis of the contents of a representative sample of media outlets. The sample includes radio, television and newspapers which are monitored on a daily basis.
The methodology employed by the EU EOM to monitor media coverage of elections was designed by the Osservatorio di Pavia, which is based in Italy. Some elements are shared by the European Institute for the Media (EIM), which is based in Düsseldorf, Germany. Both institutions have monitored media coverage of over 70 elections in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
What do we monitor? Using a sample of national and local media outlets the media unit will assess their performance in Ugandan. The media monitoring focuses on the free and balanced access of Uganda's main political actors.
Whom do we monitor? We monitor the main political actors. The list includes the government, candidates, political parties, and national institutions.
What do we monitor? We monitor: news broadcasts, talk shows, paid political advertising and any other type of relevant political communication. The quantitative component of the monitoring consists of a content analysis of a representative sample of media outlets. Radio, television, and newspapers are included in the sample and are monitored on a daily basis. The qualitative analysis consists of two components. Firstly, the evaluation and tone of the information in the mass media, recording, if necessary, any rhetoric that does not comply with the code of conduct. The second component consists of an analysis of the Ugandan media landscape, that includes, but is not limited to, media legislation, access to printing facilities, access to the advertising market, and freedom of speech.
What framework does the EU EOM use? The legal references for the assessment of the Ugandan media system are the internationally recognized commitments and principles, the Ugandan Constitution, the national Media Law, NEBE regulations for the allocation of airtime, as well as the Code of Conduct for Reporting and Coverage of Elections, as well as any other legal document related to the administration of elections.
Radio and television is monitored during peak-time viewing hours and will monitor all programming within this time framework. The monitors will time the different programmes, in order to measure the access that each candidate and political party receives on each monitored channel. Furthermore, quantifying the amount of coverage each candidate receives is complemented with an assessment of the tone of the coverage received, based on a scale of negative, neutral and positive. The monitoring also assesses the balance and tone of news and current affairs programmes to analyse to what extent they provide an adequate and balanced coverage of the different candidates.
Newspapers are monitored daily to assess the coverage of candidates and parties standing for election. As in the case of broadcast media, the media monitoring assesses the tone, access and balance of coverage.
Uganda
country profile and political background
