Volume 4, Number 7

July/August 1991

THE B.C. ELECTION CAMPAIGN

The recent NDP election victories in British Columbia and Saskatchewan did not surprise the pundits. Both the incumbent governments-the Social Credit party in B.C. and the Conservatives in Saskatchewan-were low in the polls at the outset of their campaigns, and each had controversial issues to deal with during the four-week period. What did come as a surprise in B.C., and to a lesser extent in Saskatchewan, was the increase in support for the Liberal party. In B.C., the Liberals went from having no representatives in the legislature, to winning more seats than the Socreds, thereby forming the official opposition.

The Liberal surge was made even more dramatic by the fact that the party was all but ignored in the first weeks of the campaign. Some observers and critics charged that the rise in Liberal popularity had more to do with the way in which the local media, especially television, covered the party, than it had to do with the Liberal party's qualifications. Often leadership debates assume a pivotal role in the media's treatment of an election campaign. In 1984, Brian Mulroney's attack on John Turner helped the Conservatives win a majority government. John Turner's performance in the 1988 debate garnered the Liberal leader more favourable coverage. The B.C. leaders' debate was no exception. Journalists were all too aware of the impact of the debate on the election coverage. As CBC reporter Wayne Williams stated on 8 October in his report just prior to the debate: "And so media coverage of the event will be at least as important as the event itself. The politicians know that, and that's why each one of them will try to create that knockout punch."

Not that there was a "knock-out punch" in this debate. Rather, it was Liberal leader Gordon Wilson's overall performance that appealed to the media and the public. Polling results immediately following the debate showed an increase in support for the Liberal party and increase in the trust rating of Gordon Wilson. These results, coupled with the debate, turned attention to the Liberals and, to a certain extent, away from the Social Credit and NDP parties.

In a slight change of focus, this issue of On Balance will provide an analysis of local television coverage of the B.C. election campaign. Two stations in British Columbia have provincial viewership: the CBC, and CTV's affiliate, BCTV. Their six o'clock flagship programs were content-analyzed for the entire election campaign (September 19 to October 16, 1991).

SOCIAL CREDIT POLICIES RECEIVE MAJORITY NEGATIVE ATTENTION

The assessments of the parties' substantive policy issues resulted in more negative attention for the Social Credit party than for the NDP or the Liberal parties. Of the 27 percent of BCTV and 30 percent of CBC coverage which dealt with the issues, the Socreds received predominantely negative coverage. Neutral descriptions about Social Credit policies comprised less than one third of BCTV and one quarter of CBC policy statements. Of the remainder, both stations' reports were twice as likely to be negative as positive. While some may argue that the very nature of the events surrounding the Socred re-election bid would result in the most critical coverage, it does not follow that reports of that party's issues should also generate more negative attention than the policies of the NDP or the Liberals.

NDP Policies Reported Favourably on TV

In contrast to the coverage which the Socreds received, NDP policies enjoyed more favourable than unfavourable coverage. Neutral statements about the NDP's policies also comprised less than one third of the attention paid to their policies overall. But in striking dissimilarity to the Social Credit party coverage, almost three-quarters of BCTV and over two-thirds of CBC assessments supported NDP policies rather than rejecting them.

One possible explanation for the dichotomy is that while the media queried the Socreds on their current controversies, the NDP managed to discuss their own policies and how they would improve upon the Social Credit record. For example, on 23 September, the second and third stories of the BCTV newscast focused on the resignation of John Ball, candidate for Richmond East. As Tony Parsons said at the beginning of the third story, "The flap over the Socred's Richmond candidate overshadowed everything else on the campaign trail today." In contrast, the reports about the NDP examined what their leader had to say about the issues. As Tony Parson reported: "NDP leader Mike Harcourt toured the interior of the province today, promising, among other things, a health subsidy to Northerners."

A similar reporting practice occurred on the CBC on 25 September. The first story of the day was introduced by Kevin Evans in the following manner: "Good evening. Premier Rita Johnston's election campaign has been broadsided again. It's started this morning with Jack Kempf, a Socred MLA, was charged with theft and breach of trust, but it got worse when Kempf

"The Socreds blew the biggest real estate deal of the century in this province, one of the five best urban renewal sites in North America, and the Socreds sold it in the middle of a real estate boom, and lost money."

refused Johnston's demand that he step down as a Social Credit candidate." When the spotlight turned toward the NDP, the questions asked were more substantive. This time a question was raised by a protestor:

Vivian Garner-Social Credit Candidate Nanaimo: I want to ask you a question: can you ask me [sic] who is gonna pay for your 48-point plan?

Mike Harcourt: Yes, the same people that are paying for the 1.4 billion dollar deficit that Rita Johnston, your leader, has brought in, and the doubling of the, the deficit under Social Credit over the last four or five years. I made it very clear that we can't afford to do that any more.

Liberal Policies Receive Favourable Coverage

While coverage of the Liberal party was substantially less than that of the NDP and Social Credit parties, the attention that the Liberals did receive from that stations was frequently favourable. Almost 60 percent of BCTV and almost half of CBC coverage about the Liberal platform was neutral. The remainder of statements were three times as likely on BCTV and twice as likely on CBC to be positive as negative.

Social Issues

As figure A shows, the Social Credit party platform was given the most attention by television. Well over one third of BCTV and almost half of CBC coverage on the election issues were about the Social Credit party's position on these issues. Of the discussion, the Social Credit's social policy was given the most coverage. Almost two-thirds of BCTV and over two-thirds of CBC assessments of the Social Credit's social policies were negative.

Click here to view Figure A: Coverage of the Party Issues

In contrast, the NDP received predominately favourable attention about their Social policies. Of the assessments about the NDP's social platform regarding health care, education, and government ethics, 89 percent of BCTV and 73 percent of CBC statements were favourable.

The coverage which the Liberal party's social platform received was almost exclusively favourable.

Economic Issues

Despite the Social Credit advertising campaigns which professed that they were the best fiscal managers of the three parties, statements on BCTV and CBC about economic issues provided

"If Mr. Harcourt had had his way, there would have been no Expo, there'd be no Science World, there'd be no Stadium, there'd be no Sky Train, and there would have been no Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre."

slightly more statements contradicting those claims than supporting them.

On the other hand, well over half of the assessments about the NDP's economic platform were favourable.

One striking example of the difference in coverage of the NDP and the Socreds is the way in which the media reported the parties' attacks on each other. On 3 October, both BCTV and CBC reported Mike Harcourt's criticisms of the Social Credit party that day: "What is boils down to, is that the Socreds blew the biggest real estate deal of the century in this province, one of the five best urban renewal sites in North America, and the Socreds sold it in the middle of a real estate boom, and lost money." While BCTV simply presented Mike Harcourt's statements with no detracting comments, CBC's Wayne Williams provided the following analysis supporting Harcourt's statement: "The shots are meant to strike not only at the heart of a controversial land deal, but to the heart of a Socred assertion that only Socreds can make good business deals."

Contrast this coverage to a similar attack that Rita Johnston made at the same site about Mike Harcourt on 7 October: "If Mr. Harcourt had had his way, there would have been no Expo, there'd be no Science World, there'd be no Stadium, there'd be no Sky Train, and there would have been no Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre."

This time, however, Wayne Williams analyzed the problem with the Socred strategy: "If this news conference was designed to counter one Mike Harcourt had near here last week, it didn't quite work. Mike Harcourt took a cruise along the old Expo site last week, where he criticized the Expo land deal. He says it's cost taxpayers almost $300-million. And today Rita Johnston sort of agreed."

Coverage of the Liberal party's economic platform received over two thirds of BCTV and over two thirds of CBC's assessments of the Liberal's economic policies.

TV ATTENTION TO LIBERALS INTENSIFIES IN FINAL WEEK OF CAMPAIGN

Figure B shows that 14 percent of BCTV and 10 percent of CBC election coverage was about the Liberals. However, during the first three weeks of the campaign, attention to the Liberals comprised only 5 to 7 percent of television's focus. In the final week of the campaign, reports about the Liberals increased to 35 percent of BCTV and 20 percent of CBC coverage for that week.

Click here to view Figure B: Attention to the Parties

Even more compelling is the finding that during the first few weeks of the campaign, the coverage that the Liberals received had little to do with their policies and much to do with CBC's initial decision to exclude them from the leader's debate. Once they did win access to the debate, their policies and campaign strategies were presented much more frequently on television news.

TV Provides Positive Coverage of the Liberals

Throughout the four week campaign, slightly over half of the statements aired on television about the Liberal party were neutral. The remainder of statements which offered assessments about the Liberals were more than twice as likely to be positive as negative.

Social Credit Consistently Receives Negative Attention

Despite the abrupt increase in attention to the Liberals, some things did remain constant in television's coverage of the B.C. election campaign. The Social Credit party received the most attention comprising 34 percent of BCTV and 41 percent of CBC overall coverage of the campaign. Throughout the four week period, Social Credit also received the most negative assessments. 13 percent of BCTV and 17 percent of CBC reports about the Socreds were negative.

What is significant in these results is that not only did the Social Credit party receive the highest number of critical statements, but that the balance of coverage towards the Socreds was twice as likely to be negative as positive.

NDP Receives Favourable Coverage

Coverage of NDP policies and strategies during the campaign comprised much less attention than those of the Social Credit party, but the balance of statements praising or criticizing the New Democrats were more favourable than unfavourable. The NDP received only 21 percent of BCTV and 24 percent of CBC overall attention to the campaign. When assessments were made about them, BCTV's coverage was almost twice as likely to praise the New Democrats as criticize them. Similarly, over half of CBC's coverage was favourable towards the NDP.

Other Parties and Other Topics

Other parties were mentioned in roughly three percent of both networks' election coverage. Twenty five percent of BCTV and 23 percent of CBC coverage discussed the election process in general terms. For example, both six o'clock news hour programs reminded viewers about the changes to voter registration during this election, and reiterated the ways in which voters could ensure that they would be eligible to case their ballot.

JOURNALISTS COMMENT NEGATIVELY ON THE SOCREDS IN B.C. ELECTION COVERAGE

Of all of the statements made on television about the election campaign, reporter statements comprised over one third of the total. During the British Columbia election campaign, BCTV and CBC reporters did not provide balanced coverage of the political parties. Social Credit received the most attention, comprising 42 percent of BCTV and 62 percent of reporter statements about the three main parties. Over half of BCTV and half of the CBC reporter statements about the Social Credit party were neutral and factual. Of the remainder, however, both BCTV and CBC reporters were more likely to comment negatively than positively about the Social Credit party. In fact, reporters were twice as likely on BCTV, and three times as likely on CBC, to assess the Social Credit campaign negatively.

Click here to view Figure C: Reporters' Assessments of the Parties

During election campaigns, it is generally accepted that the incumbent government will be the focus of criticism from the opposing parties. Thus, it is appropriate that negative comments about the government come from the NDP and the Liberals, as well as from interest groups and the public. However, it is not expected that the news media assume this role. Television journalists are required to provide fair, balanced and objective coverage of all the parties, issues and events. This ideal has not been adhered to in this election campaign.

Journalists Comment Positively about the NDP

Reporter comments about the NDP were consistent with general statements made by sources about that party. 31 percent of BCTV's and 28 percent of CBC's reporter statements focused on the NDP. Over half of BCTV and CBC reporters' statements about the NDP were neutral. Of the remainder, however, twice as many comments on BCTV and almost three times as many comments on CBC were in support of the NDP platform and campaign.

Journalists' statements about the Liberals tended to be more descriptive than the comments about the NDP and the Social Credit parties. Reporter statements about the Liberals were pre-dominantly neutral (65 percent of

Television journalists are required to provide fair, balanced and objective coverage .... This ideal has not been adhered to in this election campaign.

BCTV and 68 percent of CBC). Of statements where journalists provided an assessment, both BCTV and CBC reporters were twice as likely to approve as disapprove of the Liberal party. It should be noted that BCTV's attention to the Liberals increased significantly in the final week of the campaign. In the first week of the campaign, attention to the Liberals comprised less than two percent of reporter attention on the parties. In the campaign's final week, however, reporter statements about the Liberals surpassed coverage about the NDP and the Socreds.

ISSUES GIVEN LITTLE ATTENTION

At the onset of the election campaign, both television stations said that they would endeavour to inform voters of the issues. For example, BCTV reporter Neale Adams announced on the first day of the campaign: "We hope to get behind some of the hype and image making, to get honest answers from your political leaders, if that's possible." Similarly, in a panel discussion on the same day, the CBC's Kevin Evans steered his panel away from the politics and attempted to get a dialogue going on the issues: "Alright. That's a question of style. Let's talk about the content for a moment."

Despite these intentions, the issues did not comprise the majority of attention. As figure D illustrates, 27 percent of BCTV and 30 percent of CBC coverage examined the various parties' policies on economic, social and labour issues. The results contrast with network television coverage of the 1988 federal election campaign. During that election, CBC's and CTV's national newscasts focused on policy in 38 percent of CTV and 35 percent of CBC coverage.

Click here to view Figure D: Election Issues

Week 1: Scandals Dominate TV Attention

The coverage of the substantive issues were not consistently reported throughout the four week period. During the first week, scandals and descriptions of the campaign dominated television's coverage. The daily controversies surrounding the Social Credit party were almost the exclusive focus for television. In week 1, 81 percent of BCTV and 85 percent of CBC coverage focused on the scandals, the strategies of the parties and their leaders.

Week 2: CBC Focuses Attention on the Issues

A change in focus did occur with CBC during the second week of the election campaign. CBC doubled its attention to the issues while BCTV's coverage remained virtually unchanged. Of the 1453 CBC and 1425 BCTV election-related statements during the week of September 26 to October 2, 40 percent of CBC but only 22 percent of BCTV coverage examined the substantive issues.

The differences between the two news programs in week 2 are explained by the fact that in addition to following the leaders, CBC provided the vehicle for debate between Social Credit, the New Democratic Party and the Liberals. As Kevin Evans announced on 30 September: "We're going to be doing our best in this program to highlight the issues and get the positions of the Liberals, the Socreds and the NDP on the record. Tomorrow night, the first in a series of CBC Evening News issues bear pits." The two issues discussed on CBC during the week were how the parties would manage the province's budget and their policies on health care. Not only did the party representatives debate the issues, but the sessions were preceded by an outline of each of the party's platform. This was the first time in this campaign that television news provided details on these important issues.

In contrast, BCTV continued to rely almost exclusively on the coverage of the leaders. True, they did continue to provide daily updates on their tracking poll. But while these polls gave the public an understanding of what the populace thought of the campaign, the candidates, and their policies, it did not tell the voters what the parties' platforms were. Therefore, BCTV was still more occupied by the procedural component of the campaign than by substantive issues. For example, BCTV's coverage examined the horse race in 9 percent of its coverage compared to only 2 percent of CBC's overall attention during the second week.

Week 3: BCTV Examines Issues

The third week of the election campaign saw a shift in focus by the provincial television stations. Of the 1621 BCTV and 1444 CBC election-related statements during the week of October 3 to October 9, 40 percent of BCTV and 26 percent of CBC coverage examined the campaign's substantive issues. BCTV's election coverage of the issues in the third week had some components in common with CBC's second week of coverage, but also differed in some ways, too.

In the third week, BCTV brought together candidates from each of the three major political parties to debate the economy. This was similar to CBC's format during the second week of the campaign. But BCTV differed in that it outlined each party's platform in separate news stories, rather than explaining the policies directly in the TV mini-debates. These news stories compared each party's policies on the economy, health care and education. CBC did not present the issues in this format in either the second or third weeks of the campaign.

Week 4: CBC Increases Attention to Issues; BCTV's Coverage Drops

During the last week, CBC increased its attention to the issues from over one-quarter of coverage to over one-third. BCTV's coverage of the issues dropped from the 40 percent high to just over one-quarter of the overall attention.

SOCIAL CREDIT PROVIDES MOST COMMENTS ON BCTV

Reporter or anchor statements comprised 47 percent of BCTV and 43 percent of CBC statements. As is shown in rigure E, in terms of overall coverage, BCTV provided Social Credit with the most attention, comprising over one quarter of sources' statements. CBC also presented Social Credit supporters in over one quarter of their coverage, but they also allocated 29 percent of the attention to the NDP. Only one-fifth of BCTV sources' statements came from the NDP.

Click here to view Figure E: Election Sources

Liberal party representatives or supporters provided 14 percent of BCTV's and 10 percent of CBC's sources statements. The Liberals gained increasing attention from the networks over the four-week campaign. Liberal party representatives went from being quoted in less than 5 percent of sources' statements in the first week to being quoted in 12 percent of BCTV's and 8 percent of CBC's sources statements in the third week of the campaign.

While business representatives, workers and academics did not consistently gain access to the media, it is interesting to note that the public did. Both stations featured person-on-the-street interviews in over 10 percent of sources' statements. Attempts to get a sense of the electorate's views were evident in the first day of coverage where person-on-the-street interviews featured prominently on both newscasts.

METHODOLOGY

Results are based on 163 BCTV News Hour and 164 CBC Evening News stories of the 28 days of the British Columbia election campaign (September 19 to October 16). All stories appearing on the 6:00 pm news hour on the election were coded representing a total population rather than a random sample of stories.

Three researchers were employed in coding the news stories. The researchers were selected on the basis of their differing political views. Further information or details on the coding design and methods used may be obtained by contacting The National Media Archive.

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Last Modified: Wednesday, October 20, 1999.