Poliitikute ja ajakirjanike strateegiad ETV peaministrikandidaatide debattides 1999, 2003 ja 2007
Date
2010
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
This Bachelor’s thesis “Debating strategies of politicians and journalists in Estonian prime
ministerial debates held in 1999, 2003 and 2007 on Estonian Television (ETV)” analyzed the
debates between prime ministerial candidates on the public television channel ETV. This
choice of subject matter was made because of the conspicuous lack of similar studies in
Estonia despite the fact that the debates have consistently aroused public interest. The aim of
this thesis was also to shed light on the election debates held in Estonia; it was hoped to
provide some substantive, researched context for the circulating rumors.
To meet the primary goal of the thesis, content analyses was chosen as a method. As a result,
became cognizant of the evaluations given by the politicians as well as the intonation with
which the journalists asked the questions. By knowing how the participants communicated
with one another, it was made possible to determine what were the strategies of the politicians
in debating, and the strategies of the journalists’ in asking the questions.
The findings of this research were that politicians primarily use either an attacking or selling
strategy. The goals of both the politicians and journalists were pretty similar: to criticize the
government and/or Keskerakond, to leave the small parties in the background and to highlight
the differences and disagreements between Keskerakond and the “white” parties.
One might wonder if a debate with these characteristics is either biased or partial in some
manner, or even suitable for National Broadcasting. Unfortunately, that is a difficult question
to answer since there are many reasons to prefer the bigger parties and journalists must be free
to run the show—even when trying to be balanced, one can't succumb to stupidity. The main
purpose of this work isn't to point out the mistakes of ETV. However, it does shed light on the
substance of the debates and gives the people involved in journalism something to think
about.
The results reflect the nature of an Estonian television debate. What can be concluded from
that nature is that Estonian politics is moving more and more towards polarization and also
developing a system with only a few parties. The debates, where everyone theoretically
should have time to introduce their ideas, create even more inequality.
Consequently, it would be necessary to examine how journalism affects the development of
the political forces, not only in the television debates but also more broadly. Media has
developed its own opinion of what the leading political parties are and they are also being
recognized. Finding the right solution to the problem will prove very difficult; we have to find
the right balance between the number of debaters and the balance of the show. These two
variables seem to be to the most critical.
In conclusion, the work and the results are, in general, satisfying. An important gap in the
research of political communication was filled, or at least has begun to be filled. Especially
important is showing the journalists’ actions as they play such a powerful role in conducting
the debate and also in determining what the outcome will be. The political debates in Estonia
still search for the right balance and they are not far from finding it. Thanks to the
experienced presenters, the debates will presumably be better organized—we can only hope
that the political culture will be, as well.
Keywords
bakalaureusetööd, poliitikud, riigipead, peaministrid, poliitiline kommunikatsioon, poliitiline kultuur, meedia, televisioon, Eesti Televisioon, diskussioonid