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Massive media bias against the 'No' side of the Nice debate national |
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news report
 Thursday September 26, 2002 23:49 by Colm O Broin
 I've carried out a survey of the Nice debate in the Irish Times and Irish Independent from Mon 09/09 up to Sat. 21/09 and I've found that the "Yes" side of the argument gets 66% of the coverage in the Times and a massive 87% in the Independent. Free press me eye! Over the last few weeks I had noticed that the newspapers seemed to be giving more coverage to the "Yes" side of the Nice debate than the "No" side , so I decided to check it out properly. I bought a copy of the Irish Times and the Irish Independent everyday from Monday 9th Sept up until Saturday 21st Sept and measured the amount of column space given to each side of the argument. I included all the news articles that reported on speeches or press releases made by the various groups involved in the debate, plus the opinion articles and letters to the editor. The results (in CMs) are as follows: Total (Articles Letters Opinion ) Irish Independent Mon 9th Sept.-Sat 21st Sept. Total (Articles Letters Opinion ) So there you have it, my suspicion has been confirmed! The Irish Times gives twice as much space to the “Yes” side while the Indo gives almost seven times as much over the two weeks. The Times is consistant in its bias, giving 66% of the coverage to the “Yes” side each week. The bias is even worse with regard to their news articles, the “No” side gets only 28% of the space.
Total (Articles Letters Opinion ) Irish Times Mon 16th Sept.-Sat 21st Sept Total (Articles Letters Opinion ) Irish Independent Mon 9th Sept.-Sat 14th Sept Total (Articles Letters Opinion ) Irish Independent Mon 16th Sept.-Sat 21st Sept Total (Articles Letters Opinion )
Monday 9th Sept. 1: No to Nice is dingbat stuff-Ahern Yes No Tuesday 10th Sept. 1: Nice poll fate uncertain Yes No 2: Sinn Féin "take cue from Tory right" Yes No
1: Ahern says Nice vote will "set course for the future" Yes No 2: Impassioned plea for Yes vote by Fine Gael leader Yes No 3: Farm leaders criticised over attitude Yes No 4: Nice crucial to growth-Chamber head Yes No 5: Sutherland says young people stand to lose most Yes No 6:Decision should be based on future of Europe Yes No
Yes No 8: No campaign challenges Coalition over "slurs" Yes No
1: Roche replaces MacSharry on EU Convention Yes No 2: TDs give go-ahead for Nice poll by 98 votes to 13 Yes No 3: Another No to Nice would signal rejection of States role in Europe-Harney Yes No 4: Neutrality "protocal" amendment is rejected Yes No 5:Greens attack use of "scare tactics" Yes No 6: Nice is "bigger than Bertie Ahern or Mary Harney" Forum on Europe told Yes No
1:Saying No "could breed Neo-Facism" Yes No 2: New alliance group opens its Yes campaign Yes No
Yes No 4: Yes side accused of scare tactics on economy Yes No
1: Cox among speakers for FF seminar on Nice Yes No 2: Ó Cuiv Yes vote follows Government assurances Yes No 3: Seanad passes legislation for treaty referendum Yes No
1:Farmers warned of risk if Nice is regected Yes No 2: IBEC invests heavily in campaign for a Yes vote to Nice Yes No 3: Former Attorney General says Ahern rolled over on Treaty Yes No 4: Don’t become a stone in Europe’s shoe Yes No Letters Yes No
1: European trade unionists add backing to Yes camp Yes No 2: Ireland must not miss out on debate-De Rossa Yes No
1: Bruton disowns colleagues EU tax plan Yes No 2: Senate would “reconnect citizens with EU project” Yes No 3: Author claims neutrality threatened by treaty Yes No 4: Ahern demands full effort on Nice Yes No 5: Cox urges Fianna Fáil members to campaign for Yes vote Yes No Letters Yes No
1: Cabinet to clear way today for second Nice treaty poll Yes No 2: States could “veto” Irish development Yes No 3: Alliance says yes vote will help disabled children Yes No 4: Sister parties get behind Young Fine Gael Yes No 5: Greens accuse Government Yes No 6: Anarchists to campaign together Yes No Yes No Yes No Letters Yes No
1: Nice about growth, not issues at home, says Ahern Yes No 2: Saturday poll to maximise youth vote-Ahern Yes No 3: Treaty not the problem for Irish farmers, says IFA deputy leader Yes No 4: Defining moment for Ireland, says Cox Yes No 5: Alliance joins battle for a No vote to Nice Yes No 6: Sinn Féin says treaty will create “two-tier Europe” Yes No Letters Yes No Editorial
1: Forum opponents are preaching to the converted Yes No 2: Mac Sharry and Cox warn against No vote Yes No 3: McKenna accuses media of Yes bias Yes No 4: Outcome will be known day after poll Yes No Letters Yes No Irish Independent
1: Nobody will listen to us if we vote No, Ahern insists Yes No 2: Financial Centre at heart of Yes campaign group Yes No
There were no articles promoting the "Yes" or "No" arguments that day
1: Yes vote on Nice "vital for long-term prosperity" Yes No 2: No "Plan B" if Treaty is rejected Yes No 3: Over 30 billion euros in farm aid received Yes No 4: Cox hits out at No vote campaigners for "stoking" migrant fear Yes No 5: Ahern "shallow speech" under fire Yes No
1: No vote to treaty would cost us jobs, says Harney Yes No 2: Politicians standing by, spoons at the ready, to deliver cod liver oil dose Yes No 3: Greens label Nice debate "a farce" Yes No
1: Yes alliance warns No vote would weaken our link to EU Yes No Saturday 14th Sept 1: Walsh warns against rejection of Nice over farming's hard times Yes No
1: Anxious IBEC opens 500,000 Euro “Yes” campaign Yes No 2: “Creeping militarisation” just another nasty myth Yes No 3: Building bosses back treaty vote Yes No
1: ICTU calls for Yes vote amid union inertia Yes No
1: Political chiefs come out fighting for a Yes vote Yes No
1: Big fish will not bully small fry in enlarged EU, insists minister Yes No 2: Millions of disabled will “gain from ratification” Yes No Opinion Bertie cannot afford to dither over Nice Letters Yes No
1: Young voters hold key to reversing the Nice result Yes No 2: Divided farmers and fisherman urged to join Yes side Yes No 3: Left alliance gears up for new battle to defeat treaty Yes No 4: Second No “would leave us friendless” Yes No 5: “Punish coalition” call Yes No
1: So you think this is last poll? Wait for Nice 3 Yes No 2: Yes vote a “win-win” situation Yes No 3: Greens accuse Ahern of trying to dupe voters 4: German-Irish chamber backs “yes” vote Yes No |
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