The South African broadcasting corporation's coverage of the 1987 and 1989 elections: The matter of visual bias

Abstract

Investigations into the fairness of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) coverage of general elections have produced either stop watch measurements of the time allocated to different political parties, or verbal analyses of election issues. An important element of bias (i.e., visual manipulation) has virtually been ignored. This study is a content analysis of visual bias. Following a review of research on the applications and implications of camera and editing techniques, twelve categories were derived. Each of these categories was conceptually labeled as positively or negatively biased and applied to the entire population of the SABC's 1987 and 1989 pre‐election broadcasts. Results provide evidence that the governing National Party received the most favorable visual portrayals during both elections.