A content analysis of Berlin newspapers during the 1998 elections

This study explores the differences between two Berlin newspapers, one eastern (Berliner Zeitung) and one western (Berliner Morgenpost), during the federal parliamentary elections in Germany on September 27, 1998. The research sought to ascertain to what extent the eastern German paper reflected the ostensibly more leftist views of an eastern German audience. This is the first study of its kind to examine specifically the congruency between the eastern German newspaper press and eastern German voters with regards to the 1998 federal elections.

A systematic content analysis was conducted for the month preceding the elections to identify how the conservative (CDU), Socialist (SPD), and Communist (PDS) parties and the two major candidates for chancellor were portrayed in the context of several election issues. A combination of the theories of framing and issue ownership were employed to identify variables significant to the analysis.

The analysis found that (1) the Socialist party and its issues were portrayed much more favorably than the conservative party or issues. (2) the conservative chancellor candidate, Helmut Kohl, and the socialist candidate, Gerhard Schröder, were portrayed equally in both papers except in general election coverage, which favored Kohl over Schröder; (3) and no evidence was found to suggest that the two papers differed greatly in their coverage of the Communist party, which received little coverage in either paper. This last finding is particularly significant considering that more than 30 percent of eastern Berliners voted for the communist party.

These findings suggest similarity between the eastern and western Berlin papers with regards to the federal German elections. It supports previous research indicating eastern German papers favored the Socialist party over the conservatives but also presents evidence that the two Berlin papers were relatively similar in their coverage of the elections. This study further shows a congruency between newspaper coverage of the 1998 elections and the outcome of the election in Berlin, which favored the Socialist party over the conservatives in both sections of Berlin. Although the analysis covered only the major papers in the German capital, it can serve as a basis for further research on the press and politics throughout the Federal Republic.