Personalization of Electoral Competition in the Parliamentary Campaign

Abstract

This paper focuses on the way in which the Polish general elections of 2011 was reported upon by the two most popular dailies in the Wielkopolska region: „Głos Wielkopolski” (henceforth as PWG) and „Gazeta Wyborcza - Poznań” (henceforth as GW). Both these titles are regional editions of the general, nation-wide titles: „Polska the Times” and „Gazeta Wyborcza”, respectively. Their popularity among the readers is almost identical, with a slight advantage on the former title’s part.

The role of the local press in the political debate resembles the general role of the media in society. At the same time, the issues discussed locally should be different from those crucial for the more general, nation-wide arena. The election time is a vital social issue and it seems reasonable to expect the elections to attract comments by the press. However, our analysis of the materials in “PGW" and “GW” shows that neither of the editorial teams did highlight the elections to extend the level of a mere informational duty. The journalists did not show extensive engagement in the conduct of the campaign, and did not depart much from the routine way of commenting on the daily life of the local community. In the era where politics and media are more and more interdependent, and where the politics permeating media is less and less tolerated by the citizens, the elections cease to be a period of an intensified exchange of information between the participants of the political communication process. Instead, the elections become a more and more routine socio-cultural ritual that can only produce a limited extent of public excitement.