{"id":721,"date":"2016-06-19T00:01:55","date_gmt":"2016-06-18T23:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/?p=721"},"modified":"2016-06-30T08:02:53","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T07:02:53","slug":"media-coverage-eu-referendum-report-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/eu-referendum\/media-coverage-eu-referendum-report-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Media coverage of the EU Referendum (report 4)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the fourth report by the Loughborough University Centre for Research in Communication and Culture (CRCC) on national news reporting of the 2016 EU Referendum.The results in this report are derived from detailed content analysis of news coverage of the EU Referendum produced on the weekdays (i.e. Monday to Friday inclusive) between 6 May and 15 June 2016 from the following news outlets:<\/p>\n

Television: Channel 4 News (7pm), Channel 5 News Tonight (6.30pm), BBC1 News at 10, ITV1 News at 10, Sky News 8-8.30pm.<\/em><\/p>\n

Press: The Guardian, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, The Sun, Star <\/em>and the I.<\/em><\/p>\n

We analysed all EU Referendum related news found in the entire duration of all the above named television programmes. For the press, we included referendum news found on the front page, the first two pages of the domestic news section, the first two pages of any specialist election section and the page containing and facing the papers\u2019 leader editorials. Inter-coder reliability tests were conducted to check the robustness and consistency of these measures (see the website for more information).<\/p>\n

Regarding our terminology and coding protocols: we use the term \u2018IN\u2019 to indicate individuals and organisations supporting the case for the UK to remain in the European Union. We use the term \u2018OUT\u2019 for those advocating the UK\u2019s departure from the EU. We do not categorise people or organisations according to our prior knowledge of their political viewpoints. Rather, individuals or organisations are only assigned to these categories when their affiliations are manifestly stated in editorial content and\/or they articulate support for one of these positions.<\/p>\n

This report has three sections, assessing:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stopwatch Balance \u2013 which individuals or institutions have featured most frequently?<\/li>\n
  2. Directional Balance\u2013 how strongly are individual national newspapers supporting arguments for remaining in, or leaving, the EU?<\/li>\n
  3. Issue Balance \u2013 which topics have received most coverage and how has the news agenda developed over the campaign?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Executive Summary<\/h2>\n

    https:\/\/youtu.be\/4fhD95HLMPw<\/a><\/p>\n

    Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party gained significantly higher levels of media coverage over the last week.\u00a0 Corbyn was the third most prominent politician over that period and Labour\u2019s proportional presence rose from 10 to 22 percent.<\/p>\n

    Our analysis reveals some significant variations across news media sectors as to who has been reported and which campaign has been prioritised.<\/p>\n

    Newspapers supporting OUT carried more stories supporting the case for leaving the EU, gave greater prominence to OUT campaigners and gave them more direct quotation in their reporting. Exactly the same pattern is evident, in reverse, with pro-IN newspapers.<\/p>\n

    Television news coverage provides a stark comparison, coming close to parity in the news angles reported, the people included and the amount of quotation time allocated to each side.<\/p>\n

    Ddifferences in press and TV coverage of the Referendum campaign have not produced significant variations in the issue agenda. Across all media, this remains a very narrowly cast debate, with coverage of the campaign process, the economy and immigration accounting for around 2\/3rds of coverage in TV news, pro-IN newspapers and pro-OUT newspapers.<\/p>\n

    Our week-on-week analysis of the relative prominence of coverage of the \u2018economy\u2019 to \u2018immigration\u2019 reveals that the former retained its position as the most frequently reported substantive issue. Having said this, \u2018immigration\u2019 remains a very significant subject in news coverage
    \n    <\/a><\/p>\n

    Section 1. Stopwatch Balance<\/h2>\n

    This section examines which individuals, organisations and institutions received most media coverage. Table 1.1 identifies the 10 most prominent politicians over the most recent sampleperiod, comparing their ranking with the preceding week.<\/p>\n

    Table 1.1: \u2018Top Ten\u2019 by frequency of appearance (10 \u2013 15 June)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Rank<\/strong><\/th>\nCampaigner (Party\/position)<\/strong><\/th>\n%<\/strong><\/th>\nRank previous week<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
    1<\/td>\nBoris Johnson (Con OUT)<\/td>\n5.4<\/td>\n2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    2<\/td>\nDavid Cameron (Con IN)<\/td>\n5.2<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    3<\/td>\nJeremy Corbyn (Lab IN)<\/td>\n4.2<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    4<\/td>\nGeorge Osborne (Con IN)<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n\u00a06<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5=<\/td>\nGordon Brown (Lab IN)<\/td>\n3.3<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    5=<\/td>\nPriti Patel (Con OUT)<\/td>\n3.3<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    7<\/td>\nNigel Farage (UKIP OUT)<\/td>\n2.5<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    8<\/td>\nIain Duncan Smith (Con OUT)<\/td>\n1.9<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    9<\/td>\nMichael Gove (Con OUT)<\/td>\n1.6<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    10<\/td>\nAmber Rudd (Con IN)<\/td>\n1.5<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Key findings<\/strong><\/h3>\n