Politinio komentaro ypatumai internetiniuose portaluose Delfi.lt ir Lrytas.lt 2009 m ; Characteristics of political commentary of the internet websites delfi.lt and l.rytas.lt in 2009

Open Access

Abstract

Internet and electronic media are becoming increasingly popular tools of information, among other things, due to their interactive nature. This is proved by the abundance of new internet websites enjoying wide popularity. Internet portals and websites are providing information at a higher pace than the traditional media. In addition, they allow active participation of their readership (possibility to comment on published information is but one example of such participation). The present thesis analyzes characteristics of political commentary as a journalistic genre. The aim is to examine characteristics of political commentary on the internet portals www.delfi.lt and www.lrytas.lt during the presidential election period in 2009 and to identify ways in which the political commentary on these websites potentially might have had influence on the opinion and choice of the electorate / society at large. The object of the present analysis: political commentary on the websites www.delfi.lt and www.lrytas.lt. The goals of the analysis: to examine and define the most characteristic features of political commentary featured on the above-mentioned internet portals; to review the processes of creation of internet websites, to highlight the characteristics of electronic media and the possibilities it provides for development of political commentary; to discuss ways in which media potentially influences opinion of the society at large; to provide quantifiable and qualifiable analysis of the columns dedicated to political commentary on two internet portals: www.delfi.lt and www.lrytas.lt; to compare articles dedicated to political commentary on these two portals and to identify its respective characteristics; to discuss the potential influence that the political commentary on the www.delfi.lt and www.lrytas.lt might have had on the readership/electorate during the presidential election in 2009 by applying the method of comparative analysis and qualifiable analysis of the content of the political columns of the two portals. Methods of analysis: analysis of primary and secondary sources; analysis of empirical data; quantifiable analysis of content; comparative analysis of content; analysis of documents (i.e. feature articles, lecture materials, statistics). Actuality of the topic: it is widely assumed that information provided by mass media plays a very important role in the formation of the opinion of society at large, where political commentary is one of the most popular genres. The current thesis analyzes two most popular electronic media websites: delfi.lt and lrytas.lt. The following political columns were analysed: "Komentarai" (lrytas.lt), "Lietuvos pjūvis" and "Politiko akimis" (delfi.lt). The aim was to analyse the influence that these two portals potentially had on the choices that the citizens had made in the run-up to the presidential elections; to reveal what methods of manipulation the columnists might have used; to examine how the presidential candidates were portrayed and characterised. The current work analyses how the techniques of influencing the opinion of general public are used in the political commentary (following the theory of A. Švidunova, i.e. the techniques of "mind-reading", "abasement", "use of nicknames" or "labelling" as well as manipulating the data of opinion polls, etc.). The result of the analysis demonstrates that a wide range of commenting techniques were extensively used to depict D. Grybauskaitė, the then presidential candidate, in the internet portal lrtyas.lt, whereas commentary in the portal delfi.lt was less ardent and less frequent. The columnists usually choose political organs as an object of their criticism, therefore one may state that their opinions receive a wide support among the readership, which allows to conclude that opinion formed by the media is widely accepted. The present work might be useful for political scientists, as well as for journalists and politicians.