ABSTRACT

Periods when elections take place represent a litmus test for the media at a time when incumbent and potential political representatives rely on the media to communicate a whole range of political and social issues to the voting public. The platform that the mass media provide during election periods is essential to allow citizens to gather information concerning the candidates and political parties who will represent them in the political sphere for the coming term of office. Without the information that the media provide, democratic and fair elections on a national or regional scale would take an extremely different form. Indeed, where elections are judged to be unfair and unequal the media are usually held up as an integral institution that underpins imbalance or discrepancies.