The paper examines the coverage of election campaigns
by the Otago Daily Times for the period 1946-2002. Four
aspects of campaign coverage are addressed: the degree
of partisanship of editorials, and party balance in news
stories and their placement; the presidentialisation of
coverage; the relative shares of 'game' and substance
stories; and the extent to which coverage is national
rather than local in focus. The paper finds clear evidence
of a decline in both partisanship of editorials since the
1970s and balanced party coverage in other news stories
across the whole period. There has been an increase in
stories devoted to party leaders and the horse-race and
hoopla aspects of the campaign. There has also been an
increase in nationally focused stories. However, there
remains substantial coverage of parties and their policies,
and during the 1990s there was evidence of an increase
in local and regionally focused stories. Overall, readers
of the Otago Daily Times have significant opportunity
to become 'informed' voters.
