The PPP/C last month received the largest share of positive coverage on the state-owned TV and radio stations among parties contesting the November 28 general elections, and in some cases was the only party featured.
This is according to the to the Guyana Elections Commission’s Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) report for October, released on Tuesday, which also found that the APNU received the most negative coverage on NCN’s news programmes.
The political parties/groups covered in the report are: PPP/C, APNU, AFC, TUF, FSG (Fundamental Structure Group), H&S (Horizon and Star), UMP (United Muslim Party), and EBDA (East Berbice Development Association). The two main opposition groups, APNU and AFC, have both accused the state media of granting them limited access.
In its measurements of “positive, negative and neutral coverage” given to parties and government by television and radio stations, the MMU found that the NCN TV news team’s coverage of the political parties saw the PPP/C receive the most positive coverage by far, followed by APNU and AFC, while APNU led the AFC and PPP/C in the negative coverage that was produced, the MMU said.
“In general, the coverage apportioned to the political parties by the news team resulted in the PPP/C receiving exactly 3 times more positive coverage than that given to APNU and AFC combined; while, the negative coverage given to APNU, was more than double that which was granted to the PPP/C and AFC combined,” it noted. It said while APNU ended up contracting net negative coverage, the AFC, with a moderate amount of positive coverage and small amounts of negative and neutral publicity, got a positive to negative spread of a little over 2 to 1. TUF, meanwhile, was given a small amount of neutral coverage only.
The MMU added that NCN TV’s news programmes gave the government substantial amounts of positive and neutral coverage, and a relatively slight amount of negative publicity, resulting in the government receiving a positive to negative ratio of coverage of almost 176 to 1.
In general programming, the MMU also found that government got a “superlative” amount of positive coverage, buttressed by a not so large amount of neutral publicity. It added that the PPP/C got the most positive coverage, followed by APNU, AFC, TUF, FSG, EBDA and H&S, among the political parties. Of these, only APNU and AFC received measurable negative coverage, with APNU obtaining the most, it noted.
The PPP/C, according to the MMU, was portrayed largely positive and moderately neutral, while APNU attracted a moderate amount of positive publicity and small amounts of negative and neutral coverage, acquiring a positive to negative ratio of approximately 5 to 1. AFC managed a moderate amount of positive coverage, and a small amount of negative, achieving a positive to negative ratio of coverage of 7:1, it added. TUF was the recipient of moderate amounts of positive and neutral coverage and EBDA got a small amount of positive only.
On the talk shows broadcast on NCN TV, the government got large amounts of positive and neutral coverage, which was not diluted by any negative publicity, the MMU said. Also, the PPP/C attracted a small amount of positive coverage only on the shows, while no other political party received measurable coverage of any kind.
The commentaries broadcast on the Channel also saw the government receiving a slight amount of positive coverage, and APNU a small amount of negative.
Meanwhile, in its analysis of NCN Radio—the country’s only radio station—the MMU said the Voice Of Guyana (VOG) news gave the PPP/C the most positive coverage, among political parties, followed by the AFC and APNU. Further, it added that only APNU and AFC received measurable amounts of negative publicity from the newscast, with APNU gaining the most negative publicity.
“The PPP/C was the beneficiary of a large amount of positive coverage, and a moderate amount of neutral; APNU, collected small amounts of positive, negative and neutral coverage; and AFC, was the recipient of small, but varying amounts of positive, negative and neutral coverage, that reflected a positive to negative ratio of approximately [3 to 1],” it said. “The positive coverage apportioned to the PPP/C by the news team was approximately 3 times the same coverage given to APNU and AFC combined, whilst the negative distilled on APNU was measurably more than that given to AFC,” it further said. It added that the government received a large slice of positive coverage and a moderate portion of neutral publicity. Government also came in for a small amount of positive coverage.
On the radio station’s general programming, the PPP/C received a moderate amount of positive, and a small amount of neutral coverage, the MMU also noted.
The MMU’s analysis of television and radio looks at news content, general programming, talk shows, commentaries and advertisements broadcast during the period under review.
For CNS TV 6, the MMU found lopsidedness in the positive coverage received by the opposition political parties APNU, AFC and JFAP, as against the relatively small amounts of positive publicity registered for the government and the PPP/C. The MMU said this was a direct result of the number of programmes produced by the opposition parties and aired on the channel and the absence of any PPP/C produced programming as a counter. It said the same reason was responsible for the disparity in negative coverage on the station measured for the PPP/C and the government in comparison with opposition parties.
In general programmes broadcast on the station, however, government did receive a large amount of positive, a small share of negative and a moderate amount of neutral coverage, with a positive to negative ratio of coverage at over 51 to 1. It was also found that the PPP/C was given a large amount of positive coverage and small amounts of negative and neutral coverage. Comparatively, the MMU said the PPP/C gained more positive coverage than APNU and AFC combined, although its negative coverage was more than 5 times the same coverage tallied for APNU and AFC combined. It added that it was notable the government and all three major political parties–PPP/C, APNU and AFC–received net positive coverage in the channel’s general programming.
Talk shows on the channel, meanwhile, only accounted for a small amount of positive coverage for government, a huge portion of negative, and a relatively moderate amount of neutral. The ratio of positive to negative coverage calculated for the government, however, was around 39 to 1.
APNU attracted the most positive coverage among political parties featured on the talk shows, followed closely by JFAP, AFC and PPP/C. On the other hand, the PPP/C received the largest share of negative coverage, with APNU and AFC following by some distance.
On HBTV Channel 9, the MMU found that Prime News, a privately-produced newscast which buys airtime on the station, gave the government substantial amounts of positive, negative and neutral coverage, with more positive than negative publicity. Among the political parties, meanwhile, APNU gained the largest share of positive publicity, followed by the PPP/C, AFC, TUF and JFAP. It added that the PPP/C got the most negative coverage, followed by TUF, APNU and AFC. “The PPP/C was apportioned moderate amounts of positive and negative coverage, which was complemented by a small portion of neutral publicity,” the MMU noted, adding that it received measurably more positive than negative coverage from the newscast.
The other HBTV newscast, First Look News, also gave the government variable small amounts of positive, negative and neutral coverage, but slightly more negative than positive. Like with Prime News, the news team gave APNU the largest share of positive coverage among the political parties, followed by PPP/C and AFC. Only the PPP/C and JFAP received negative coverage through the newscast, with the PPP/C absorbing the most, the MMU pointed out.
In HBTV’s general programming, the government received a large amount of positive, a small amount of negative and a moderate amount of neutral coverage, resulting in a positive to negative ratio of coverage of 15 to 1. At the same time, among the political parties, only APNU and PPP/C gained positive coverage, with APNU collecting the most. APNU also gained the most negative coverage, followed by PPP/C and AFC. Of the three parties, the MMU said the PPP/C received a significant amount of positive and a relatively minor amount of negative coverage that was reflected in a positive to negative ratio of coverage of approximately 45 to 1.
On the talk shows aired on the channel, government received a “quantitatively large” amount of negative coverage, compared to the relatively small amounts of positive and neutral coverage, according to the MMU. It said the negative to positive ratio of coverage calculated for the government was exactly 11 to 1. Among the political parties, APNU, which achieved a positive to negative ratio of coverage that was 91 to1, led the field with the positive coverage it received, followed by AFC, UMP and PPP/C. The PPP/C, meanwhile, stood out as the most negatively covered party, followed by AFC and APNU. “…[T]he positive coverage APNU received outstripped the combined positive coverage accumulated by AFC, PPP/C and UMP, combined; whereas, the negative coverage that the PPP/C got, was almost 18 times the same coverage allotted to APNU and AFC, combined,” the MMU found.
On MTV Channel 65, the News Update newscast gave a sizeable amount of positive publicity, a small amount of negative and a relatively large cut of neutral coverage to the government, according to the MMU’s findings. Of the political parties, meanwhile, the PPP/C received the most positive coverage, followed by APNU and AFC. Of these, APNU received the most negative coverage, followed by AFC, TUF and PPP/C. “The PPP/C was awarded a large amount of positive and neutral coverage with a sprinkling of negative publicity,” the MMU said, saying that there was a positive to negative ratio of coverage of approximately 99 to 1. The PPP/C’s positive coverage was more than 27 times the same coverage calculated for APNU and AFC, combined, the MMU pointed out, while saying that the negative coverage that APNU received was actually double the same coverage totalled for PPP/C, AFC, and TUF, combined.
In general programming on MTV Channel 65, the government received a substantial amount of positive, a small amount of negative and a moderate amount of neutral coverage and the positive and negative coverage ratio was found to be “significant” at over 403 to 1. The PPP/C, meanwhile, was the only party that gained positive coverage, the MMU found, while APNU and AFC were the only parties that were negatively portrayed. Both APNU and AFC suffered net negative coverage, with the negative coverage absorbed by APNU being more than double that which was received by the AFC, it added.
On the talk shows broadcast on the station, the government also received a moderate amount of positive coverage and small amounts of negative and neutral coverage, which accounted for a positive to negative ratio of coverage of 18 to 1. Additionally, the PPP/C, with a positive to negative coverage ratio of 113 to 1, was the only party that gained positive coverage, while APNU absorbed the most negative coverage, followed by AFC and PPP/C.
In NTN Channel 18/69’s general programming, the government was portrayed largely positively and moderately neutrally, while at the same time not attracting any measurable negative coverage, the MMU found. It added that the PPP/C was the only party that gained positive publicity while also achieving a moderate amount of neutral coverage. APNU was the recipient of a small amount of negative coverage only and AFC got an even smaller amount of negative publicity. Comparatively, the negative coverage calculated for APNU, was nearly 3 times the same timed for AFC, it noted.
On the talk shows broadcast on the channel, the government was also portrayed with large amounts of positive and neutral coverage and a slight amount of negative, with the positive to negative ratio of coverage being over 35 to 1. Only the PPP/C, APNU and AFC were covered by the talk shows, with the PPP/C being the only party gaining a significant amount of positive coverage, which was mixed with a moderate amount of neutral publicity. APNU gained an insignificant amount of positive coverage, a moderate amount of negative and a small amount of neutral, with a negative to positive spread of coverage of approximately 50 to 1, MMU said, adding that AFC received a small amount of negative and a large quantum of neutral coverage. It added that the negative coverage that APNU absorbed was over 5 times that which the AFC was subjected to. “…[I]t should be noted that the overly substantial amounts of positive coverage timed by the Unit for the ruling PPP/C and to some extent the government, and the visibly disproportionate amount of negative coverage timed for APNU, are not unrelated, since the majority of the timings were derived largely from the PPP/C aligned programmes, Getting it Right and Square Talk,” it said.
VCT Channel 28’s Evening News, meanwhile, gave substantial amounts of positive and neutral coverage and a small amount of negative publicity to the government. “In fact, the gap between the positive and negative coverage that the government received was reflected in a ratio of approximately [105 to 1],” the MMU noted.
Among the political parties, it said the PPP/C attracted the most positive coverage on the channel, followed by APNU, AFC, FSG, TUF and JFAP. APNU was the recipient of the largest amount of negative publicity, and was followed by TUF, JFAP, AFC and PPP/C. The PPP/C, the MMU reported, grossed a large amount of positive coverage, a small amount of negative and a moderate of neutral, with the positive to negative spread of coverage recorded at 46 to 1. APNU, it added, received a large amount of positive and almost equal amounts of moderately negative and neutral coverage, with a positive to negative ratio of coverage of approximately 5 to 1. The AFC’s figures reflected a moderate amount of positive and equally small amounts of negative and neutral coverage, which redounded to a positive to negative spread of coverage of approximately 5 to 1 as well. “Comparatively, the positive coverage apportioned to the PPP/C was more than the combined total amounts allotted to APNU, AFC, JFAP, TUF and FSG. Also, the amount of negative coverage that APNU took in was nearly equal to the total combined negative coverage scored by the PPP/C, AFC, JFAP and TUF,” the MMU pointed out.
Meanwhile, general programming on the channel saw the government receiving a moderate amount of positive coverage only, with the same for the PPP/C. APNU received a small amount of negative coverage and AFC received a relatively tiny amount of negative only. Of the two parties, APNU was portrayed over six times more negatively than the AFC.
On WRHM Channel 7, the Capitol News newscast gave the government comparably moderate amounts of positive, negative and neutral publicity, but the MMU said there was exceedingly more negative than positive coverage, resulting in a negative to positive spread of coverage of approximately 2 to 1. Of the political parties, APNU was given the most positive coverage, followed by PPP/C then AFC, with TUF bringing up the rear. TUF was the recipient of the largest amount of negative publicity.
The PPP/C was given almost equal amounts of positive and neutral coverage, which was separated by a smaller amount of negative, resulting in a positive to negative spread of coverage for the party of approximately 2 to 1, MMU noted. APNU, meanwhile, received a relatively large amount of positive and a small amount of neutral publicity, while AFC received a moderate amount of positive and a small amount of neutral coverage. “Comparatively, the positive coverage given to APNU was more than the same observed and measured for the PPP/C, AFC and TUF, combined,” the MMU said.
On the channel’s talk shows, the government secured small amounts of positive and neutral coverage, and a relatively moderate amount of negative publicity, although overall there was a negative to positive ratio of publicity that was nearly 9 to 1.
Among the political parties, meanwhile, TUF received the most positive coverage, followed by AFC and APNU. The PPP/C, on the other hand, grossed the largest amount of negative coverage, followed by APNU and AFC. “A look at the spread of coverage obtained by the parties, revealed that on the positive side, there wasn’t much separating APNU, AFC and TUF, even though TUF fared the best, commanding slightly in excess of the combined coverage calculated for APNU and AFC,” it said.
