Comparing Audience Responses to Televised Debates : A Cross-National Study of Germany and Sweden

• Whereas televised debates between the main contenders in presidential races or parliamentary elections have a long history in some democracies, they are a rather new phenomena in other countries. There is still rather limited research regarding the processing and the impact of po-litical TV-debates outside of the U.S., and comparative studies in this area are extremely rare. Furthermore, there are virtually no comparative studies on the processing and impact of po-litical TV-debates using RTR-measurements. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to report on a study comparing audience responses to televised debates in Germany during the 2005 election campaign and in Sweden during the 2006 election campaign. Using content analyses, pre- as well as posttest questionnaires and immediate audience re-actions to the debates measured by RTR technique, this paper will compare the overall reac-tions to the debates, to specific parts of the debates, and the size of the effects on the evalua-tions of the candidates. Based on these results, a second purpose of this paper is to discuss the opportunities and limitations of comparative research on perceptions and effects of televised debates.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Effects

TV-debates

real-time response

Media and communication studies

Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)