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Changes in Polish Television as Reflected in Submissions to CNN World Report
Zbigniew Rytel
c/o Dr. Mark Harmon
School of Mass Communications
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-3385 office
Changes in Polish Television as Reflected in Submissions to CNN World Report
Abstract
The author investigates changes in Polish TV journalism as reflected in
submissions to CNN's World Report. The author reviews reports from two years
before and two years after the collapse of Eastern European communism (1988,
1989; 1994, 1995). The author discovers the latter reports dealt with more hard
news/issues, and came closer to Western standards of objectivity. Each set used
many government sources; the latter had greater source variety and usually was
more critical.
Changes in Polish TV as reflected in CNN World Report submissions
__ One of the greatest social and political turnovers in the 20th century took
place in Europe in 1989. The division of Europe into two antagonistic blocks,
formed by the agreement of the Soviet Union and the Western Alliance after World
War II, had remained unchanged for more than four decades. Suddenly within a
few months the world witnessed the break of all political and military
structures. It was the fall of the Berlin Wall that symbolized the Eastern
European "velvet revolutions," but the first country of the Communist Bloc that
broke the system was Poland.
When Lech Walesa was asked once what caused the phenomenal collapse of
Communism in Eastern Europe, he pointed to a television set. Mass media were
considered by communist authorities as well as by audiences the main instruments
of social control in Poland. Thus, after the birth of the Solidarity movement
in 1980, mass communication was the main area of battle between the government
and Solidarity___. "It was an area where the Communist party, despite promises
and efforts at openness, wanted to retain power" (Gray, 1989, page 236). In the
1980s the growing amount of news that spread over states and national borders
became an extraordinary factor in implementing (or reinforcing) the idea of
democracy among the people living in authoritarian societies. Without access to
foreign and international media, the process of regaining freedom in the Soviet
Bloc countries would have been longer and probably more painful.
This schizophrenic role that media performed in Poland in the 1970s and the
1980s, originated a question to what extent legal and structural limitations
affect journalistic practices. The relatively quick transformation from the
authoritarian system in which Polish media operated in the 1980s, to the
democratic system in which they operate now, provide__d a unique opportunity to
analyze how these "outside" limitations affect the content of the media's
product.
CNN World Report, with its philosophy and practice not to censor or interfere
in any way with the content of submitted reports, creates almost laboratory
conditions to examine how reports prepared under different legal and structural
conditions change. The same rules, practiced by the World Report staff since
the program's beginning, allow a focus on domestic factors influencing changes
in the content of Polish reports.
The pattern used to design instruments of measurement was based on handbook
standards accepted in the Western world as "cornerstones" of reliable,
professional journalism. The general assumption underlying this study is that
Poland readopted the values ___of the free-speech society relatively quickly and
this will be evident in the content of Polish reports submitted to CNN World
Report. This report will analyze the changes that appeared in the content of
reports prepared by Polish Television reporters for CNN World Report in two time
periods: 1988-1989 and 1994-1995.
LITERATURE REVIEW: Polish Television Before 1989
Until 1989 Polish television, like other media, operated under the strict
control of___ the government. From its beginning in 1952 "it was technically
government-owned but actually controlled by the whim of...the country's
communist central committee" (Hollstein, 1991, p. 367). Television was ruled by
the Committee for Radio and Television on the strength of the law adopted in
1960. The law gave the committee the exclusive right to produce and broadcast
radio and television programs.
In the 1980s the state operated two national television channels and eight
regional stations which were subordinated to the Warsaw central station in terms
of economics as well as programming. For dozens of years a law dictated that
"all transmitters must be owned by the state...The regime never needed to ban
independent broadcasting, because it could simply tell any applicant that no
transmitters were available for rent at that particular time" (Dennis & Vanden
Heuvel, 1___990, p. 24). It was the same with frequency allocation, which was
handled by the Ministry of Communication. "In Eastern Europe, another method of
stunting the development of independent broadcasting was for the government to
claim that there were simply not enough open frequencies for independent
broadcasters" (p. 24).
Television became the most important means of Communist propaganda in Poland in
the 1970s. "Party dogma maintained that those who control television control
society" (Goban-Klas, 1994, p. 149). In the 1960s television was considered
mainly a cultural and entertainment medium, but a few years later it became
strictly a political medium and was put under rigid party control. The content
of programs increasingly misrepresented reality. Curry remarked that "no matter
what disasters befell Poland and its economy, the government would claim___
success, and by so doing, would convince the population that it was successful"
(p. 19). The Committee's president was directly responsible to the Propaganda
Department of the party's Central Committee. The Committee for Radio and
Television supervised the lower levels of the television structure by appointing
trustworthy heads of departments, as well as trustworthy journalists. The work
of the latter was strictly scrutinized on a daily basis. "The Press Department
[earlier called the Propaganda Department] is continually involved in directing
media operating through officials called 'instructors,' who are assigned to a
group of media institutions dealing with the same subject or having similar
political importance" (Shanor, 1983, p. 334).
The television evening newscast was under the direct control of the Press___
Department of the Central Committee. The newscast, aired simultaneously on both
channels of Polish television, "was filled with information that tended to
underscore all of the so-called achievements of socialism. When such facts were
not at hand, the editors usually invented them. Bad news was hidden, if not
contradicted. Thus, the news bulletin was jokingly referred to as 'An Hour of
Prosperity' " (p. 150). In the 1980s the Communist party kept even tighter
control over television newscasts, "even during the print media carnival that
followed the 1980 signing of the Gdansk accords" (Grey, p. 249). The fact that
in December 1981 the main nightly newscast was broadcast from a military base
clearly shows how important television was for the Communist Party. The effect
of such intensive propaganda was completely opposite to that intended. After
1980___ "Poland's walls were covered with the simple words, 'TV lies' and only
10 percent of those asked by the TV Public Opinion Research (O.B.O.P) believed
TV reports" (Ash, p. 140). In 1980 the popular form of demonstrating distrust
of television was "The Television Walk." People went for walks at times when
main newscasts were on the air. Dan Fisher (quoted in Hollstein, 1991) noted,
it "became something of a national institution" (p. 382).
The selection of journalists working with "strategic" media was conducted in
accordance with the features compatible with the propaganda authorities' goals.
"All the upper-echelon and trained personnel were Communists. Since Polish
television was largely a subsidized enterprise with the purpose of maintaining a
complacent populace, these television people never really used their
imaginations or improved their skills" (___Dennis & Vanden Heuvel, 1990, p. 34).
Journalists were taught that "their job is not merely to report the news, but to
shape it with opinion and to advance a particular political line" (p. 31). This
habit was clearly seen even in 1990 when the two American scholars noticed that
"every political faction believes it ought to have a newspaper of its own" (p.
31).
The journalism colleges were included in university political science
departments and journalism programs were subordinated to the ideology of
Marxism-Leninism. "The expansion of journalism studies has contributed to a
qualitative improvement of mass media, but the aim is greater effectiveness, not
diversity of opinion or competitiveness" (Karch, 1983, p. 117). Dennis & Vanden
Heuvel (1990) preparing a report for the Gannett Foundation on media in Eastern
European countries, were more critical: "The journalism school in Warsaw
produced only Communis___t Party hacks well versed in Marxist-Leninist
theory...these [journalism] schools actually became a place to sort out the
ideologically impure and prevent them from practicing journalism" (p. 32).
In addition to economic control, the most important control instrument of the
television content was censorship. As early as 1946, the Chief Press Control
Office was established. With some periods of diminished severity (1953-56 and
1982), the office worked effectively through the end of 1989 and was abolished
in April of 1990. Censorship did not allow reference to "living standards, the
cost of living, education, health, environmental pollution, emigration,
transportation, foreign trade, productivity, consumer goods, or agriculture"
(Grey, 1989, p. 240). From the documents smuggled to Sweden by a former censor
in 1977, the Western world was able to acquaint itself with the practice of
th___e Central Office of Press, Publications, and Spectacles Control. The
documents showed a picture of how detailed the instructions were and how
strictly they were executed. Censorship affected a wide range of subjects.
"These vary from obituaries and marriage announcements to the annual coffee
consumption and river pollution..." (Lendvai, p. 115). A very important part of
the document combined a blacklist of Polish and foreign persons who "may not be
mentioned in any way" (p. 115). The short following excerpt from the directives
revealed in 1977 provides a closer view of the limitations within which the
Polish media operated:
Information about the endangering of life and health of human beings caused
through chemicals used in industry and farming have to be deleted.
Banned is all information about food poisoning and epidemics affecting larger
groups of people and especially in important plants, furthermore foo___d
poisoning in factory canteens, holiday , summer colonies. [...]
No reference concerning the sale of meat by Poland to the Soviet Union is
allowed.
No criticism of Soviet oil drilling equipment used in exploration in Poland may
be published. Any reference to suggestions of purchase of such material from
other foreign sources must be eliminated.
No information, written in an approving, tolerant, understanding tone about
hippies in Poland may be published. Only unequivocally critical references are
allowed. (Lendvai, 1981, pp. 115-16)
The detailed list of instructions from the Central Committee's department was
sent to the central censorship office. Strong emphasis was put on matters
relating to foreign countries, particularly the Soviet Union. Another few
directives are the examples of eagerness not to irritate the Soviets:
In reports of the Polish Exhibition staged in Moscow on account of ___the
thirtieth anniversary of the Polish People's Republic, one should avoid
expressing excessive satisfaction with the success of particular exhibitors,
since this may suggest that some Polish products created a furor in Moscow and
were not previously known on the Soviet market.
Information concerning price changes of some goods must be deleted from all
materials concerning the protocol signed in Moscow about next year's trade
exchanges and payments arrangements. [...]
All information about Romania's initiative with regard to membership in the
movement of non-aligned states is forbidden. (Lendvai, 1981, p. 118)
A very important part of the guidelines were instructions to delete any
references to censorship itself. "Until 1980, the Communist government denied
censoring the state-owned media, saying it was unnecessary since editors and
journalists were loyal to the regime" (Grey, 1989, p. 240).
Polish___ Television After 1989
In spite of the huge print press market, radio and television are still the
main source of information for 93 percent of Poles (Sparks & Reading, 1994).
"Ninety-eight percent of the households or about 11 million families have
television...and about 20,000 homes have satellite dishes" (Hollstein, 1991, p.
286).
The main goal of the Broadcast Bill accepted by the Parliament in 1992 was to
demonopolize broadcasting and to create a commercial sector. The bill
established the National Broadcasting Council, an independent body situated
outside the governmental or parliamentary structure. The council was provided
with a broad set of rights. According to Karol Jakubowicz (1995), the most
important goals the Council faced were allocating frequencies and granting
licenses to private broadcasters. The council's task also consisted of
"promulgating delegated legi___slation, as well as supervising of the observance
of broadcasting laws and license stipulations" (p. 142).
The Broadcasting Bill contains basic solutions in the fields of advertising,
sponsorship, protection of domestic audio-visual production, and broadcasting
fees. The council's obligation is to define the rights and duties of private
and public broadcasters in those fields. Some specific broadcasting activities
are regulated in other Parliamentary acts. The Electoral Regulations of 1990
and 1991 contained a detailed set of obligations regarding the access to
television during parliamentary and presidential elections. The Catholic Church
Act of 1989 determined the status of the Catholic Church in the area of
broadcasting. On the strength of the Broadcasting Bill, Polish Television (TVP)
and Polish Radio were split and reconstituted ___into public enterprises. Now,
in Jakubowicz's opinion (1992), they operate very much in the same mode as the
large, traditional public service broadcasting organizations known in Western
countries.
Polish Television Ltd. has been run by the Board of Directors (appointed by the
National Broadcasting Council) that is overseen by the Board of Management. The
TV organization was formed as a joint stock company but all stocks belong to the
state. "Due to several stipulations of the Act the execution of the ownership
rights of the state does not permit interference into the day-to-day operation
of the public radio and television (most powers are vested in the Board of
Directors) nor exert any influence on the programming policy of the broadcasting
company" (Jakubowicz, 1992, p. 78). The News Department is sit___uated outside
the structures of the channels and produces news programs for both channels. As
a separate organizational unit, it enjoys relative independence from the heads
of the channels it serves. Polish Television, Ltd. is financed by the owners of
TV sets (through minuscule monthly fees) and by advertisers. Quantitative and
some qualitative limitations are imposed by the law on the presentation of
advertisements on the public television.
The Broadcasting Act also regulates the programming obligations of public radio
and television. These special obligations pertain to the fair presentation of
the whole diversity of facts and events, to the free formation of opinions, to
the presentation of attitudes and programs, the execution of public control, and
the development of culture, science, and education. Special obligations are
co___nnected with the presentation of the policies of the state. "The political
parties have the rights to present their positions in the crucial problems of
the country" (Jakubowicz, 1992, p. 78).
On the other side of Polish broadcasting there is a private, commercial sector.
Although this sector is largely unregulated, the National Broadcasting Council
grants licenses to private broadcasters. The licenses have been granted through
competition. The main condition is that foreign companies and individuals are
not allowed to apply for a license and foreign capital involvement in a Polish
company cannot exceed 33 %. The Broadcasting Act also prevents the broadcasting
market from being monopolized.
The new Polish broadcasting system is not free from criticism. Tomasz
Goban-Klas (1994) claims that "...it introduced a type of airwaves
c___ensorship" (p. 245). He admits that the National Broadcasting Council is
independent from the government, but "Instead of being an arm of the state, the
council is essentially dependent upon the current political setup" (p. 246).
Some scholars (Gallimore, 1994; Goban-Klas, 1994) have expressed concern about
the Catholic Church involvement in the operation of the media. Despite this
criticism, the effects of the new regulations can be clearly seen on the TV
screen. The credibility of Polish Television has changed significantly. As
early as in 1991, according to a study by Tadeusz Kowalski (1991), the newscasts
on Polish Television lost their propaganda character and increased their focus
on information. Several years after the new law was passed it seems the Polish
broadcast media has developed al___ong fairly classical Western European lines.
CNN World Report
Patterns of international news flow have been studied by a great number of
researchers. A rich literature describes the place of international and foreign
news in general on American television. According to common opinion, American
TV news programs focus on domestic affairs and deal with foreign news as though
it were of secondary importance. Some critics claim that information about
Third World countries is "disproportionate and distorted, with too little
coverage and too much concentration on the violent, the bizarre, and the
conflictual" (Weaver, et al., 1984, p. 356). As the research of Al Hester
(1978) indicated, in the middle of the 1970s foreign news coverage occupied less
than 25 percent of the 22 minutes of a typical American newscast (ABC,___ CBS,
NBC). The affairs of only a small group of nations (primarily those in Asia,
Western Europe, and the Middle East) receive significant coverage" (p. 93).
Moreover, the majority of foreign news was devoted to political and military
conflicts, crimes, or disasters and most of it was presented from the viewpoint
of American interests or concerns (p.93).
The functional framework of the newscasts of the three main commercial TV
organizations gives viewers the illusion that they see a kind of reality. In
this reality the world revolves around the United States and its interests. In
1984 James Weaver, Christopher Porter, and Margaret Evans found that "there is
little empirical evidence offering a systematic exploration of the patterns of
foreign news presentation over an extended time period" (p. 358). James Larson
and Andy Hardy (1977) stated that a ___"significant proportion of all
international news [is] reported from Washington, D.C." (p. 241).
The example of American foreign news coverage has been used by scholars to
demonstrate imbalance in international news (Le Duc, 1981). In 1984 the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) McBride
Commission recommended a "New World Information and Communication Order"
(McBride, 1984). The goal of the New World Information Order debate was to
improve the free flow of ideas among people in different political systems and
different cultural traditions (Stevenson & Cole, 1984).
The first television station that considered UNESCO's recommendations was the
Cable News Network creating the CNN World Report show in 1987. Ralph Wenge, the
executive producer of World Report and the host of the Sund___ay show, tried to
explain the idea that led to the creation of the program: "I think a lot of us
in the media think people still just want local and national news. But it is a
smaller world. The idea that viewers only care about what is going on within
the borders of the United States is no longer true" (quoted in Flournoy, 1992,
p. 24). In the same work Don Flournoy, without hesitation called CNN World
Report "the first truely planetary newscast" (p. 2).
World Report is a compilation of unedited and uncensored news reports submitted
by reporters from more than 210 television networks from every corner of the
globe. The program is scheduled on Sundays from 12.00 pm to 2.00 pm Central
Standard Time. Additionally, the CNN World Report Division produces a daily
thirty minute show five times per week (Monday through Friday) ___which is
broadcast from 2.30 pm till 3.00 pm CST. The daily show consists of reports
that were broadcast or are about to be broadcast on the Sunday show.
Since its debut on October 25, 1987 CNN World Report has carried more than
18,000 reports from news organizations from 135 countries. Contributing
organizations are not limited in terms of frequency of submitting news stories
to the program. Some cooperators are very active, sending reports almost every
week, while others contribute once a month or even less frequently. If more
than one television network from one country cooperates with World Report, they
are asked to coordinate the coverage of events. The frequency of contributions
also depends on the importance of events in particular regions.
The mission of World Report, explained in its Seve___nth Contributors
Conference information package, is "to provide television viewers around the
world with the opportunity to see other countries as they see themselves" (CNN,
1996, n.p.). The same source revealed also that the distribution of World
Report, via CNN, CNN International, and contributing networks, reached more than
500 million households worldwide. This number looks even more impressive when
compared to findings of a study by Stewart (1988). He pointed that "even a
brief encounter with news from a non-Western perspective can have a dramatic
effect on a person's world view" (Stewart, 1988, p. 13). An attempt to
systematize how World Report audiences may perceive the show was undertaken by
Fryman & Harmon (1994). Their study, comparing American and international
student perception of the program, concluded ___that viewers should be
responsive to international perspectives and be patient dealing with potential
biases and poor quality of the reports.
Such responsiveness is particularly important because the influence of the
World Report staff on stories' content is greatly limited by strict rules. The
CNN World Report staff does not exercise editorial control over the content of
the submissions: all are broadcast. This is not only a philosophy of the
program, it is the program's everyday practice. Working for CNN World Report in
the summer 1996, I had an opportunity to acquaint myself with the practices of
the World Report staff and have observed the strict execution of the policy.
The conditions under which a report may be edited or excluded from airing are:
the report is longer than two-and-half minutes (three minutes before 1991); the
content of the news violates U.S. media law; or i___f the technical quality of
the report is below professional standards. However, everyday practice showed
me that tape editors tried to improve technically unacceptable stories rather
than to exclude them from the program.
Subjects of news reports vary from hard political or economic stories to
stories called by Robert Stewart (1992), "come-to-visit-our-exotic-beaches."
Thanks to the broad net of local reporters, CNN World Report has been able to
immediately cover current events such as: the assassination of Israeli Prime
Minister, Yitzhak Rabin; the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda; and Russian offensives in
Chechnya.
A weak side of the opportunity World Report provides for its contributors to
reach such a large audience is that some contributors treat the program as a
medium for their national propaganda. But, as some researchers have pointed
out, this ha___s been changing: "While even the occasional viewer of the
program can see a fair amount of propaganda on World Report, the program has
evolved into much more than just an electronic 'soap box' from which
broadcasters can preach to their audience" (Stewart, 1992, p. 4). Additionally,
a study Dilawari, Stewart, Flournoy (1991) indicated a strong orientation toward
development-related reports. "We have seen in this research that slightly over
60 percent of all news contributed to CNN World Report is development news..."
(p. 132). The authors defined development-related stories as those that focus
"less on politics, crime, crises, and disasters, and more on economic
activities, social services, culture, science, and education" (p. 132). With
surprise, they also concluded that developing countries seemed to be less
concerned about development news, while developed countries' concern has been
increasing. The latter ___conclusion was also confirmed by findings of the
study by Park, Dilawari, & Flournoy (1992). They suggested that "...the
non-Western media, when given an open channel to the world, do not contribute
more development oriented news than do the Western media" (p.12). Their study
revealed a possible new pattern in the usage of development journalism in all
countries regardless of their economic situation. Further, they found that the
Latin America/Caribbean region was one of two regions that covered development
news more than non-development news. The content of stories from this region
was analyzed by McClean & Stewart (1994). Their study, which examined reports
submitted by English-speaking Caribbean journalists to World Report over the
period 1987-1992, indicated that "a close look at 'protagonist' reveals that,
for the most part, it was national governments that implemented measures to
bring about the development process" (p. 22).
Another analysis o___f World Report content (Ganzert & Flournoy, 1992) also
resulted in surprise. Comparing topics of the World Report stories to the
international stories from the U.S networks, they found that differences were
fewer than the authors expected. "Although the World Report's data suggest
shifts away from war, disaster, and accident reporting toward art, culture, and
development news, foreign relations and domestic relations remained at the top
of the ranking in both news services" (p. 194).
World Report and its unique role in creating a "marketplace of viewpoints and
perspectives on the news around the world" (Flournoy, 1992, p. 10) has become an
important source of data for scholars to analyze trends and patterns within and
between various political and cultural systems. The number of studies alone
devoted to or based on the CNN World Report may be a quantitative indicator of
the new quality added to the___ international news exchange by the program.
Comparative Analyses
"Drawing on organizational theory and relevant literature, it is argued that
news professionalism is an efficient and effective means of controlling the
professional behavior of journalists" (Soloski, 1989, p. 207). The nature of
professionalism in news production leads to news coverage not threatening the
politicoeconomic system in which the news organization operates (Soloski, 1989).
The final product of news organizations results from influences from outside the
news organizations as well as the "intraorganizational control mechanism of news
policies" (p. 208). Extraordinary circumstances enabling the study of this
interplay (with emphasis put on outside factors) have been created several
times in recent years and in different parts of the world. For Americans this
includes the Persian Gulf War and its t___elevision coverage. John E. Newhagen
(1994) examined "the relationship between censorship and the emotional and
critical tone of television news" (p. 32). The findings of this content
analysis provided support for a hypothesis that "the U.S. tended to receive more
positive, less intense, less critical coverage than Iraq" because of censorship
(p. 40).
The South African government's attempt to control foreign television content
was examined by C.A. Giffard and L. Cohen (1989). They argued that in the case
of the domestic media the aim of the apartheid system was to "preserve a
semblance of normality. In the case of the foreign media, the curbs are
intended to force news of conflicts off the front pages of the world's
newspapers and from its television screens" (p. 3). A study designed to analyze
control over the portrayal of South Africa on U.S. television proved___ that all
attempts to keep the picture of the country presented on the American television
under control failed. Censorship did not decrease the reporting of the fights
in South Africa. Media restrictions also did not result "in fewer interviews
with South African anti-apartheid leaders" (p. 8).
Another South African study, by William Hachten (1979), analyzed young South
African television (which started operating in 1976). The author concluded that
in SABC (South African Broadcast Corporation) "news and public affairs is an
official rather than independent news operation" (p. 67). More than 80 percent
of its political coverage presented government or National Party viewpoints.
The author also provided some evidence "the three year old television system is
already beginning to have an impact on other media, particularly newspapers" (p.
70).
The changes in t___he Soviet press in the 1980s were examined by Robert L.
Stevenson et al. (1987) and Elizabeth Schillinger (1989). The first study
employed descriptive analysis and examined the content of Pravda, the largest
circulation Soviet daily, and Vremya, a 30-minute nightly newscast. The
eight-category design allowed the authors to conclude, compared to a previous
UNESCO study, there was "change in the kinds of news the two premier Soviet
media cover and the way they cover it. Events not immediately linked to the
Soviet Union or to Marxist theory or history do get reported" (p. 11). The main
conclusion of the author was that "to talk of Glasnost in Soviet journalism as
revolution seems clearly to be an overstatement. It is reform, significant but
controlled reform" (p. 11).
Elizabeth Schillinger examined two Moscow dailies: Moskovskaia Pravda (Moscow
Truth) and Viecherniaia Moskva (Evening M___oscow) over a three year period,
1985-87. She concluded that the differences in readership could be attributed
to the fact that Moscow Truth published more hard news stories than did the
other paper and contained more criticism of Soviet institutions.
A study by Louise Ha set up a framework to compare the standards of
journalistic excellence in two countries: the U.S. and China. Pulitzer Prize
winners' works were compared with the Chinese National Award for Good Journalism
winners' items. Her findings showed that the Chinese award emphasized the
narrative's excellence while the American ones focused on the analytical
excellence of journalists. The most popular topic among the American
prize-winning reports was exposure of graft and corruption while Chinese reports
focused mostly on the economy and development. According to the author, the
propaganda model suggested that the media serv___e as an ideological instrument
to support the interests of the government and as an agent of legitimization to
promote social stability.
Such a definition was the basis for H. Li-Ning to compare the diversity of
television news in two countries, the U.S. and Taiwan. The findings of this
study suggested that in both countries news content relied heavily on government
sources explaining political events.
Most of the studies showed that front-page stories relied heavily on government
officials and most of them came from routine channels of news gathering such as
press conferences, press releases, and official proceedings. An analysis by
John Soloski (1989) strengthened these findings. He stated, "Journalists
perceive the existing sociopolitical system as the legitimate site for gathering
news and perceive public officials as the legitimate sources of news" (p. 879).
He also concluded such a situation tends to legitimize ___the power structure of
society for news consumers.
John Alan (1989) conducted a comparative study of the content of Argentinean
television during two time periods: one under the military dictatorship and one
under democracy. The author analyzed "varying effects that differing government
styles can have on a single mass communication system" (p. 6). He found that
"programming schedules prepared under conditions of greater freedom of speech
and freedom of expression...exhibit greater reliance on domestic, Latin American
or Spanish language than...American or First World-produced programs" (p. 26).
The problem Xinlu Yu (1995) examined is stated in the title: "What does China
want the world to know?" The author analyzed two sets of reports sent by
Chinese television to CNN World Report, one produced before the Tiananmen Square
Massacre and one produced after it, in order to find differences between them.
Based on two se___ts of categories (topic and news direction) the findings
concluded that after the 1989 China Pro-Democracy Movement the Communist
government reinforced efforts to present life in China as 'normal.' The
presence of 'supportive' stories jumped from 46.4 percent before the Tiananmen
Square Massacre to 95.5 percent after it. Moreover, the percentage of political
and economic reports occupied almost 30 percent of all stories sent within the
time period. This pattern supports the assumption included in the title that
CNN World Report serves the Communist government as a means of international
propaganda.
HYPOTHESES
The historical experience of Polish journalists and knowledge derived from the
foregoing review of literature leads to the conclusion that outside conditions
affect journalists' products to a great extent. In the case of Polish reporters
submitting reports to CNN World Report, the general assu___mption is that the
adoption of the conditions under which Polish Television has operated since
Communism collapsed in Poland to democratic standards must lead to changes in
the quality of Polish reports submitted to World Report. In other words,
reporters submitting news stories in the period of 1994-1995 performed better as
information collectors and information analysts than did reporters submitting
news stories in the period of 1988-1989.
These observations lead to the following hypotheses:
H1: The proportion of "hard" news topics (politics, international relations,
economics, the military, and social or criminal problems) to the rest of the
topic categories will be higher for the reports submitted in 1994-1995 than will
for the reports submitted in 1988-1989.___
H2: There will be more issue stories covered by the reports from the period of
1994-1995 than covered by the reports from the period of1988-1989.
H3: Reporters who submitted news stories in the period of 1994-1995 will use
fewer governmental sources than reporters who submitted news stories in the
period of 1988-1989.
H4: Reports submitted by Polish Television in the period of 1994-1995 will
include more criticism, as defined in the methodological part of this study,
than will those submitted in the period of 1988-1989.
H5: Reports submitted by Polish Television in the period of 1994-1995 will be
more objective, according to standards defined in metodological part of this
study, than will those submitted in the previous period.
METHODOLOGY
This study analyzes the content of stories submitted to CNN World Report by
Polish Te___levision reporters from January 1, 1988, through December 31, 1989,
and from January 1, 1994, through December 31, 1995.
The design of the research assumes that no sample will be extracted from the
universe (census). All Polish news stories presented on the Sunday CNN World
Report program are included in the analysis. A Polish story is defined as a
story submitted by reporters of Polish Television and categorized as Polish in
the computer database of the CNN World Report Archives at Texas Tech University.
Reports were dubbed from the original programs recorded and stored in the
archives at Texas Tech University. The unit of analysis was a single story
package. Sound bites, voiceovers, and telephone reporting were considered a
package and included into the analysis. Intros, readers, tags, teases, and
promos were excluded from the analysis.
The process of news reporting may be divid___ed into three stages: collecting
information, analyzing information, and presenting it. The quality of the
performance at each of these stages affects the quality of the final product, a
report. These three stages in the process of news reporting are synthesized in
the researcher-analyst-narrator framework (Ha, 1992). For the purpose of this
study a modified Ha's framework was used. The focus was on the performance
during the first two stages. All definitions regarding category system are
provided in Appendix A.
The first stage of the reporting process is collecting information. The goal
of the reporter at this stage is a selection of newsworthy events and gathering
of information about these events. The quality of performance at this stage is
determined by obtaining background information and by the selection of sources
used to collect information. Reporters' performance as researchers is examined
by three measurements: choice of topic, depth of reporting, and type of sources
used in the report.
A topic of the report refers to the main subject discussed in the news story.
Topics are categorized into eighteen mutually exclusive types. The pattern of
topic types is a modification of Weaver et al. (1984), as follows:
-Politics: Topics relating to internal political conflict or crisis, elections,
campaigns, party conferences, government and Parliament decisions, government
changes and appointments, democracy and peace movements, actions by political
leaders, legislation.
-International relations/Diplomacy: Topics relating to diplomatic/political
activity between states;non-governmental international activity of
organizations, groups, and individuals (e.g. international aid); refugees and
human rights in countries other than Poland.
-Economics: Topics relating to agreements on trade and tariffs, international
trade, capital investment, stock is___sues; monetary questions, exchange rates,
money supply, banking; other economic performances, output and growth;
industrial projects, factories, dams, and ports; agriculture matters, projects,
crops, and harvests; industrial/labor relations disputes, negotiations, and
wages.
-Social problems: Topics relating to social problems in general (e.g. housing,
illiteracy.); family planning; social services (health care, public education);
social welfare.
-Military/Defense: Topics relating to arms deals, weapons, bases, exercises,
etc.
-Science/Technology/Medicine: Development and discoveries in those fields
-Crime/Justice: Topics relating to non-political crime, police, judicial and
penalty activity.
-Culture/Arts/Archeology: e.g. theater, music, fine arts, crafts, folk culture,
material remainders, entertainment, and show business.
-Media: Topics relating to media performance, structure, ownership; media
freedom and its limitations.
-Religion: Topics relating to religious ___activity of individuals; churches
and religion organizations; religion tradition.
-Race/Ethnicity: Topics relating to race conflicts, race and ethnic minorities'
rights and their limitations.
-Tourism/Travel: Topics relating with tourism, touristic attraction of the
country, and touristic activities of Poles.
-Ecology/Environment: Topics relating to the protection of human natural
habitat, e.g. energy conservation and pollution.
-Sports: Topics relating to professional and qualified sports events and
personalities; sports and recreational activity of people.
-Human interest/Odd happenings/Animals: e.g. unusual hobbies, inventions, or
ideas without practical value; pets, etc.
-Catastrophe/Disaster/Accident: e.g. plane, rail, car crashes, floods,
earthquakes, drought, etc.
-Anniversary: Activities and events commemorating historical events.
-Other
Depth of reporting was determined by the presence of background information and
the presence of a context of trends i___n which the event was situated. News
stories were categorized into two types of reports:
-Issue story: It may originate from an event or phenomenon reported by
journalist to stimulate public discussion. Issue stories are characterized by
analysis of trends and availability of substantial background information.
-Event story: happening that lasts for a specific period of time and in which
lack of substantial background information does not affect viewers interest, but
lack of currency of news release negatively affects viewers interest in an
event.
Types of sources used to collect information reflect an effort made by a
reporter to understand the event's complexity. They also reflect a reporter's
initiative. Sources were categorized into eleven mutually exclusive types:
-Government: refers to all governmental officials, members of ruling party or
parties and employees of governmental agencies.
-Opposition to government: means members of legal or illegal parties or
o___rganizations which oppose ruling government. Labor Unions for the purpose
of this study are considered as political parties.
-Interest Group(s): all formal organizations, e.g. professional associations,
business clubs, student organizations and other organized groups of people and
their members if individuals were presented in the story not as private persons
but as members of particular organization. Labor unions are excluded from this
category.
-Community Leaders: individuals presented as leaders of local groups of
inhabitants in the context of local problems.
-Celebrity Figures: famous, respected, non-political figures (e.g. movie stars,
sports stars, writers, journalists, etc.).
-Businesspersons: owners of the enterprises or management executives presented
out of the context of politics.
-Academics: teachers, researchers, scientists at college or university
level.-Professionals: e.g. lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc.
-Foreigners: official representatives of state___s other than Poland;
individuals presented as citizens of countries other than Poland.
-Persons affected: individuals directly affected by the event or problem and
presented in the story out of the context of their political or organizational
affiliations.
-Others.
The second stage of the news reporting process is an analysis of gathered
information. Two basic components of a reporter's analytical performance were
studied: objectivity and criticism. According to Western journalism standards,
objective reporting requires that information be attributed to sources, and
direct quotation reflects a higher level of objectivity than does indirect
quotation. These standards also require, for the preservation of objectivity,
presenting conflicting perspectives, as well as evidence supporting these
perspectives. Reporting handbooks suggest that the highest level of objectivity
reporters achieve is when they avoid their own opinions and when they allow
sources to present ___opinions directly with the sources' own voices.
Therefore, reporter objectivity was examined by four indicators:
1. Number of identifiable sources: A source is defined as an every
non-repetitive information provider to which particular information presented by
a reporter may be attributed. The source may be any individual or agency or
institution credited with providing information.
2. Types of source quotation: Directly cited source: Individuals interviewed
in sound bites; those who appear and speak directly to the camera. Indirectly
cited source: Information provided by the source which was summarized by the
reporter (e.g. "according to chief of the fire department...;" "As the
spokesperson for...declared...") no matter if the source appeared on the screen
or not.
3. Inclusion of conflicting opinions: more than one opinion presented by a
reporter and/or interviewee without agreement on a particular issue. Opinion is
defined as a judgme___nt held with confidence, or a conclusion held without
positive knowledge.
4. Presence of evidence supporting opinions: signs or facts on which a
conclusion can be based. An interviewee's opinion only is considered the
highest possible level of journalist objectivity and defined as an opinion
presented in a report not by a reporter but by interviewee(s) only.
Criticism is one of the most important components of the role the media play in
democratic societies. Criticism in journalists' everyday practice means
identification a problem or conflict in a society and critical analysis of
causes of and reasons for the conflict or problem's appearance. Causes or
reasons for the conflict may be attributed to different levels of the structure
of a society. This ranges from the level of an individual member of a society
to the political or social structure itself. Reporter's criticism was
___examined by two indicators:
1. Identification of a conflict or problem: Conflict/Problem is defined as a
perplexing situation or question; a question presented for consideration,
solution, or examination. A disagreement among ideas or interests. From
definition, a presents of problem or conflict may automatically lead to develop
an issue story.
2. Level of cause attribution: refers to the level on which the cause or
roots of the conflict may be attributed.
- individual: e.g. an official, a criminal, etc; in general a particular
person.
- group: e.g. gang of youth, minority group, etc.; organized or unorganized
group of people.
- institutional: e.g. school, government agency, etc.; governmental or
nongovernmental institution.
- structural: e.g. school, government agency, etc.; governmental or
nongovernmental institution.
The codin___g procedure were conducted by two coders, including the author of
the study. All reports were selected from the CNN World Report Archives'
computer database. The reports were dubbed from tapes containing the original
Sunday World Report programs. These programs are stored in the CNN World Report
Archives at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.
The intercoder reliability was measured by the Holsti formula. From 124
reports 20 (16% of the census) news stories were selected as a subsample. Two
independent coders were employed to test the intercoder reliability. The number
of coding decisions each of them had to make totalled 160. They disagreed in 16
cases. Thus, the intercoder reliability was calculated as .90 (90% of
agreement). The level of significance was established at .05. Data was
analyzed using the computer software StatView SE+Graphics.
RESULTS
One hundred twenty six reports submitted from Polish Tele___vision were
broadcast on CNN World Report during the four years analyzed in this study.
There were 34 reports in 1988, 33 in 1989, 29 in 1994, and 30 in 1995. Three
news stories were not available from the CNN World Report Archives and one
report was broadcast twice. The final number of reports coded for this study
was 122. The adjusted numbers of reports were 33 from 1988, 32 from 1989, 28
from 1994, and 29 from 1995.
The purpose of this study was to compare reports from two time periods. The
reports from 1988 and 1989 were combined to form one time period, while the
reports from 1994 and 1995 were combined to form the remaining time period.
Hypothesis 1: The proportion of "hard" news topics (politics, international
relations, economics, the military, and social or criminal problems) to the rest
of the topic categories will be higher for the reports submitted in 1994-1995
than will be for the reports submitted in 1988-1989.
The distri__bution of the topics within the years was unequal. The total
number of news stories devoted to politics was 24. Cultural events were
reported 22 times, and the topic of International relations/Diplomacy was
reported 13 times. Ecological matters were reported twice, as were sports, and
only one news story was devoted to tourism and travel.
The distribution of topic categories between the two analyzed time periods was
also unequal (Table 1). Political events were reported 13 times ___in the first
analyzed period (20% of all stories from this period) and 11 times in the second
period (19.3% of all reports from 1994-1995). But cultural events, which were
reported 20 times in the 1988-1989 period and comprised 30.8% of all stories
submitted by Polish Television to World Report in these years, were shown only
twice in the 1994-1995 period (3.5%). International relations or diplomatic
matters, reported in four reports (6.2%) in the first period, were reported
nine times (15.8%) in the second one. Anniversaries were chosen as topics for
four reports (6.2%) in the years 1988-89 and only for one (1.8%) in the years
1994-95.
___In combination, so-called "hard" news topics (politics, international
relations, the economy, the military, crime/justice, and social matters) made up
43% (28 reports) of all stories submitted in the "communist" period and 71.9% of
those submitted in the second time period (41 reports). Additionally, it is
worth mentioning that of 28 "hard" news stories in the first period 19 were
submitted in 1989 and only nine in 1988. The ratio of the "hard" news stories
between 1994 and 1995 was 23 to 18 respectively. The difference in ratio of
"hard" news to the rest of the topics between the analyzed periods confirms the
hypothesis that under condit___ions of democratic rules, a higher percentage of
stories was composed of "hard" stories than the percentage from the "communist"
period. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 is supported by the findings of this study.
The differences between the numbers in the collapsed categories over the two
time periods are statistically significant (Chi-Square=10.29; DF=1; p<.05).
Hypothesis 2: The proportion of issue stories reported from the period of
1994-1995 twill be higher than the proportion of issue stories reported from the
period of 1988-1989.
The authors of the reports prepared for CNN World Report moved from the
positions of event story-tellers to watchdogs who reported problems that might
affect viewers' lives (Table 2). In 1988-89 event stories made up more than 66%
of all contributed reports, compared to less than 25% of those sent in 1994-95.
In the '94-'95 period issue stories were reported 43 times (out of 57
re___ports) which comprised 75.4%. Respective numbers for the first time
period included 22 issue stories of the 65 reports. That represents 33.8% of
the stories from this time period. The results regarding the proportions of
issue stories to event stories between time periods strongly support hypothesis
2. The difference is statistically significant (Chi-Square=21.105; DF:1;
p=.0001).
Hypothesis 3: Reporters who submitted news stories in the period of 1994-1995
will use proportionally fewer governmental sources than reporters who submitted
news stories in the period of 1988-1989.
From 11 types of sources categorized for coding only seven were used in 1988 to
collect information and eight in 1989. In 1994 reporters used 10 types of
sources and nine types in 1995.
In the 1988-1989 period governmental sources were attributed, directly or
indirectly, 17 times (in 65 reports). In 1994-1995 governmental sources were
used 48 times in 57 reports (Table 3). Seventeen governmental sources used in
the years 1988-1989 comprised 23.6% of all sources (72) identified in the
reports from this period. Forty eight governmental ___ sources identified in
the reports from the 1994-1995 period comprised 33.8% of all sources (142) used
in this period. In the light of the findings of this study Hypothesis 3 cannot
be supported. The difference between these percents is not statistically
significant (Chi-Square=2.34; DF:1; p> .05).
Excluding the category of Foreigners, the remaining source types may
potentially construct a "public opposition" to a government. These combined
categories represent the following results: In the period of 1988-89 "public
opposition" sources comprised 65.3% of all attributed sources, while in the
period of 1994-95 they comprised only 54.2%. People affected (or so-called vox
populi) made up more than 27% of all cited sources in the period 1988-89 and
less than 20% of those from the 1994-1995.
_ Hypothesis 4: Reports submitted by Polish Television in the period of
1994-1995 will include more criticism, as defined in the methodological part of
this study, than will those submitted in the period of 1988-1989.
Identification of a conflict or problem.
The findings regarding the presence of a conflict or problem identified in a
report demonstrate (Table 4) that in the period of 1988-1989 only 17 news
stories (26.1% of all reports submitted over this time period) dealt with
conflicts or problems. Moreover, 12 of these reports were submitted in 1989.
In contrast, the respective number for the second time period, 1988-1989, was 42
reports. This represents 73.7% of all stories from that period, and the
distribution of these reports was equal: 21 from 1994 and 21 from 1995. These
findings are statistically significant (Chi-Square=27.472; DF:1; p= .0001).
Level of a cause attribution.
From a total number of reports that included the cause of a conflicts or
problems (59 reports) 44 news stories attributed the cause of a conflict or
problem to the institution or system levels, 13 to the group level, and only two
reports to the individual level.
Of the 17 stories from the first time period, 1988-1989 which inclu___ded
conflict or problem, seven reports (41.2%) attributed the cause of a conflicts
or problems to the system level and nine reports (52.9%) to the institution
level (Table 5). Respective numbers for the 1994-95 period were higher.
Thirteen reports attributed the cause of a conflict or problem to the system
level and 15 to the institution level. But percents calculated for the second
period are smaller than are those for the first one: 31.0% attribution to the
system, 35.7% to the institutions. The findings are not statistically
significant (Chi-Square=4.489; DF:3; p= .1798). It must be remembered, however,
that a small number of analyzed reports does not allow generalized conclusions.
Most researchers suggest that each category should contain at least five
observations (Wimmer & Dominic, 1991, p. 236). Several cells included numbers
too small for proper statistical calculation.
The numbers regarding the identification of a conflict or problem in submitted
reports strongly support Hypothesis 4 assuming that reports prepared under
democratic conditions will include more criticism than will those prepared under
the rules of authoritarian government. The findings regarding the second
indicator of criticism, the cause attribution, did not allow conclusions to be
drawn.
Hypothesis 5: Reports submitted by Polish Television in the period of 1994-1995
will be more objective, according to standards defined in metodological part of
this study, than will those submitted in the previous period.
The numb___er of identifiable sources.
The number of identifiable sources used to collect information is the
foundation of reliable journalism. This number was dramatically low in the
reports submitted from Poland in 1988-1989. Seventy-two sources were identified
in 65 news stories, an average of 1.1 sources per report. In the period of
1994-1995 this indicator was much higher: 2.5 sources per report (142 sources
identified in 57 reports). The difference of means is statistically significant
(t= -4.85; DF:120; p= .0001). A closer observation of the number of sources in
each year's reports suggests that reporters used an average of 0.6 sources per
report in 1988, and 1.6 sources per report in 1989. In 1994 this mean was 2.6,
and 2.3 in 1995. These differences are also statistically significant
(F=10.776___; DF:3; p= .0001). Additional analysis (Scheffe's F-test) indicated
that statistically significant differences were found between means of 1988 and
1994 (F=8.88) as well as between means of 1988 and 1995 (F=6.594).
Types of source quotations.
Direct quotations, which are considered the best way of avoiding journalist
bias, were used 45 times (62.5% of all quotations) in the first analyzed period
and 80 times (56.3%) in the second period. But in the years 1988-1989 more than
55% of direct quotations were comprised of vox populi, not a practice highly
respectable in the professional world because of great ease to manipulate these
anonymous opinions. However, the differences were not statistically significant
(Chi-Square=.7467; DF:1; p>.05). An average 0.7 of direct quotations per report
were used in the period of 1988-1989, compared to an average 1.4 of direct
quotations in the 1994-1995 period. The last numbers are statistically
different (t= -3.084; DF:120; p= .0025).
Inc___lusion of conflicting opinions.
The presence of conflicting opinions was coded for those reports that dealt
with conflicts or problems. In the "communist" period the proportion of stories
which included conflicting opinions and those which did not was 23.5% to 76.5%
(Table 6). In the second analyzed time period conflicting opinions were present
in 61.9% of reports and 38.1% of them did not include conflicting opinions. The
difference is statistically significant (Chi-Square=7.131; DF:1; p= .0076) but,
once again, a conclusion based on these data must be made with caution.
Evidence supporting opinion.
The analysis of the presence of evidence supporting opinions revealed (Table 7)
that of the 17 reports from the years 1988-89 which contained conflicts or
problems in nine reports (52.9%), opinions were supported with evidence. For
the period of '94-'95, opinions were supported with evidence in 33 reports
(78.6%) of the 42 reports containing conflict or problem. And once again, for
the "communist" period all reports which included evidence supporting opinions
were prepared in the second year of this period, in 1989. The difference
be___ tween numbers from the two analyzed time periods is statistically
significant (Chi-Square=8.123; DF:2; p= .0172). The findings regarding all
four measurements of reports' objectivity support Hypothesis 5.
___
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Despite a relatively small number of analyzed stories, a clear pattern of
change over the two time periods appeared. The results of this study indicate
that the difference between reports sent over the two time periods was even
bigger than the author had expected. As a result of all the changes in the
Polish media, within several months reports approached standards of the Western
world. This was illustrated on almost every level of measurement. Moreover,
this pattern was clearly observed by a trend which escaped the statistical
analysis. Differences between news stories from 1988 and 1989, reported
partially in the proceeded chapter, may be attributed to the fact that in 1989
Polish journalists started reporting "hard" news, presenting conflicts or
problems and various perspectives on issues in their stories. They started
using sources in the process of collecting information. Th___ey began these
practices even before structural and legal changes occurred. The ease of
censorship and the atmosphere of reinstating freedom in 1989 resulted in
immediate and clearly seen changes in the quality of reports compared to those
from 1988. The design of this study, however, did not allow to close analysis
of time periods.
On the level of topic choice, the changes in Poland resulted in a move from
'soft' news to 'hard' news. Only one story from 1988 mentioned strikes or other
forms of challenge to the Communist government. At the time when the Communist
authorities were ready to surrender to the opposition groups, when details of
the Round-Table meeting were discussed, television journalists submitted stories
mostly on cultural events. According to the picture of Poland that emerged from
CNN World Report in 1988, the only significant events in Poland were various
festivals and hi___storical anniversaries. This fact perfectly demonstrates one
of the 'iron' rules of Communism: nothing exists unless it is presented by the
media. This pattern changed slightly in 1989. Due to historical events such
as, the Round-Table talks, the first since WWII free elections, and the first
non-communist Prime Minister, "hard" news stories begin to dominate in reports
from Poland. Nevertheless, the old habits remained: in one of the most
important years of Poland's 20th century history, while 9 reports covered
political events, 8 stories reported cultural events.
In 1994-1995, political, social, or economic conflicts occurring in Poland, to
an extent, might have been considered normal in democratic societies.
Democratic rules of solving such conflicts were developed in essence. Despite
this, domestic and international politics and economic issues w___Jere the
prevailing topics of stories submitted to the CNN World Report from Poland. The
world was finally informed that drug and crime problems existed in Poland, that
there was an army, and that Poland's relationship with its former "Big Brother"
could be described as a set of long-lasting conflicts. The question of which
portrayal was closer to reality remains open. There is no doubt that in 1988
and 1989 the symptoms and effects of the collapsing communist system were much
more important than jazz festivals or other cultural events. On the other hand,
it seems that in 1994-1995 reporters tried to employ a domestic scale of news
importance in relation to what they thought the world should know about Poland.
Issues stories (75%) dominated reports submitted to CNN World Report in
1994-1995. Reporters tried to present the new___os in form of "in-depth"
stories. Further, they attempted to stimulate a public discussion digging into
the roots of the problems and to analyze trends. This shows that they were
professionally better prepared than their predecessor, to serve the public as a
medium for providing accurate information. It may be also assumed that in
1994-95 the natural mechanism for selecting journalists, according to their
professional skills, (instead of their servile attitudes) worked to a greater
degree than it did in 1988-89.
The same trend was observed when analyzing the number of sources used in the
reports. A significant increase of identifiable sources (from 0.6 per report in
1988 to 2.6 in 1994) would lead one to believe that reporters better understood
their roles as information providers rather than information creators. Despite
the increasing number of sources used t___o gather information in 1994-95,
authors of stories tended to rely mostly on official sources. More than one
third of all sources were governmental officials. There was still a lack of use
of independent experts (academics, professionals, etc.) and other "public
opposition" sources to collect information. This shows that reporters
apparently did not yet realize what role public television should play in the
process of creation of a "public sphere" in a democratic society.
The statistically significant difference between percentages of sources quoted
directly and indirectly over the two analyzed time periods is hard to determine.
However, it should be noted that a great number (more than 55%) of all direct
quotations in 1988-89 were found in the category of "people affected." This
"vox populi" particularly, in 1988 allowed reporters to falsify the real voice
of pub___lic opinion. This technique was very often practiced in domestic
Polish newscasts and it was used for the purpose of presenting required, not
real pictures of Poland to international viewers. During the coding phase of
this study it was noticed that in reports from the "communist" period many times
the Polish version of the interviews and their English translations did not
match at all. For example, whereas people interviewed on the street were
talking about their ambivalent perceptions of the problems that occurred in
Poland at the end of the 1980s, reporter's English translations presented strong
approval or strong disapproval regarding reported events.
The presence of conflicting opinions on the issues is one indicator of
objectivity in reporting. The difference between news stories from 1988-89 and
1994-95 shows that reporters understood that objectivity should be___ a
fundamental feature of the media. More than 60% of reports in 1994-95 contained
conflicting opinions, compared to only 23% of those in 1988-89. Once again,
this indicates that the criteria of professional journalism were met by
"1994-95" reporters to a much greater degree than were by reporters from the
first analyzed time period. This conclusion was also confirmed by data
regarding the evidence supporting opinions. According to reporting handbooks,
the more evidence supporting opinions, the more objective reporting is. The
highest level of objectivity occurs when reporters avoid providing their
opinions and leave it to their interviewees. In 1994-95 reporters came closer
to the ideal of objective reporting. More than 50% of their products contained
opinions supported with evidence and almost 25% of the reports pr___esented
interviewees' opinions only. In contrast, 100% of reports sent in 1988 did not
contain evidence supporting opinions. This proportion increased in 1989. Only
one third of reports that mentioned conflicts or problems did not support
opinions with evidence, while two thirds did. That is why this proportion
calculated for the entire period of 1988-1989 changed to almost 53% of reports
without supporting evidence and 47% with evidence. Within these two years there
were no reports with interviewees' opinions only.
The data provided by the study shows that reporters in democratic Poland were
more critical of Poland's reality than their counterparts in the authoritarian
political system. A majority (75%) of reported events were based on conflicts
or problems. It is natural for the free media to focus on conflict___s. Even
more interesting is that causes of conflicts in 1994-95 were mostly (more than
66%) attributed to institutional or structural levels. Once again, this proves
that democracy provides an opportunity for the media to control the system and
journalists understood their roles. Even greater disproportion of attributions
to institutional or system level (94%) compared to group or individual level
(6%) observed in the period of 1988-89 cannot be considered significant due to
the small number of analyzed reports (17 stories only).
Questions regarding the process of selection (or self selection) of reporters
cooperating with CNN World Report were excluded from the scope of this study.
This study examined the content of reports regardless of the personal talents of
the reporters who produced them or the type of selection___ that allowed
reporters to submit stories to World Report. But it is worth mentioning that
some of the journalists who reported news stories in the first analyzed time
period still submitted reports in the second analyzed period. This fact even
more strongly supports the idea that journalists freed from the legal,
institutional, and habitual limitations under which they had worked over many
years very quickly approached the Western standards of professional journalism.
In Poland, they did not even have to become acquainted with those standards
because the patterns of professional, objective journalism were present all the
time in the independent media. On almost every level of the measured factors of
professional reporting, the results indicated a significant increase toward the
standards accepted in Western culture.
T___his study, certainly, did not provide the scientific measurements that
would allow us to extrapolate the results of this study to a greater extent.
The examination of the changes in Polish television news content under these two
different sociopolitical systems suggests that further investigation of this
forgotten field of media studies may contribute interesting information to the
debate on the world's media systems. It would be interesting to examine a wider
sample, including countries similar to Poland in terms of cultural tradition and
historical experience (e.g. Czech, Slovakia, Hungary) by using the pattern
proposed in this study. This pattern also might be useful, in several years, to
analyze an opposite direction of changes in the content of TV news stories
after communist China takes over democratic Hong-Kong.
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APPENDIX A Coder's ID ______ Date of broadcast __/__/__ Position in the show
___
1. What is the main topic of the report?
__ Politics __ International relations/Diplomacy __ Economics
__ Social problems __ Military/Defense __ Science/Technology/Medicine
__ Crime/Justice __ Culture/Arts/Archeology __ Media __Religion __
Race/Ethnicity __ Tourism/Travel __Ecology/Environment __Sports
__ Human interest/Odd happenings/Animals __ Catastrophe/Disaster/Accident
__ Other, please name:____________________________________________
3. Type of the report: __ Issue story __ Event story
4. Was there a problem or conflict presented in the report?
__ Yes __ No (ple___,ase skip to question # 8)
5. On what level was the cause of the problem attributed?
__ Individual __ Group __ Institutional __ Structural
6. What opinions on the same issue were presented in the report?
__ Non-conflicting opinions __ Conflicting opinions
7. Was opinion supported with evidence?
__ No evidence __ With evidence __ Interviewee'sopinion only
8. Type of identifiable sources used in the report?
(# __ = Number of times source was used; D = directly used source I =
indirectly) __ No identifiable source
# __ Government __ # __ Opposition to government __
# __ Interest Group(s) __ # __ Community Leaders __
# __ Celebrity Figures __ # __ Businessperson __
#__ Academics __ # __ Professionals __ # __ Foreigners __
# __ Persons affected __ # __ Other, please name________________________
APPENDIX B
1. Main topic of the report. The main subject discussed in the news story:
Politics: Topics relating to internal political conflict or crisis, elections,
campaigns, party conferences, government and Parliament decisions, government
changes and appointments, democracy and peace movements, actions by political
leaders, legislation, etc.
International relations: Topics relating to diplomatic/political activity
between states;not-governmental international activity of organizations, groups,
and individuals (e.g. international aid); refugees and human rights in countries
other than Poland.
Economics: Topics relating to agreements on trade and tariffs, international
trade, capital investment, stock issues; monetary questions, exchange rates,
m___oney supply, banking; other economic performances, output and growth;
industrial projects, factories, dams, and ports; agriculture matters, projects,
crops, and harvests; industrial/labor relations disputes, negotiations, and
wages.
Social problems: Topics relating to social problems in general (e.g. housing,
illiteracy, etc.); family planning; social services (health care, public
education, etc.); social welfare.
Military/Defense: Topics relating to arms deals, weapons, bases, exercises,
etc.
Science/Technology/Medicine: Development and discoveries in those fields
Crime/Justice: Topics relating to non-political crime, police, judicial and
penalty activity.
Culture/Arts/Archeology: E.g. theater, music, fine arts, crafts, folk culture,
material remainders, en___tertainment, and show business.
Media: topics relating to media performance, structure, ownership; media
freedom and its limitations, etc.
Religion: Topics relating to religious activity of individuals; churches and
religion organizations; religion tradition, etc.
Tourism/Travel:
Ecology/Environment: Topics relating to energy conservation and pollution.
Human interest/Odd happenings/Animals/Sex:
Catastrophe/Disaster/Accident: E.g. plane, rail, car crashes, floods,
earthquakes, drought, etc.
Sports: Topics relating to professional and qualified sports events and
personalities; sports and recreational activity of people, etc.
Race/Ethnicity: Topics relating to race conflicts, race and ethnic minorities'
rights and their limitations, etc.
3. Issue story: It may originate from a___n event or phenomenon reported by
journalist to stimulate public discussion. Issue stories are characterized by
analysis of trends and availability of substantial background information.
Event story: happening that lasts for a specific period of time and in which
lack of currency of news release negatively affects viewers interest in an
event.
4. Problem/Conflict: a perplexing situation or question; a question presented
for consideration, solution, or examination. A disagreement for ideas or
interests. From definition, a presents of problem or conflict may automatically
lead to develop an issue story.
5. Level of cause attribution: refers to the level on which the cause or roots
of the conflict may be attributed.
Individual: e.g. an official, a crimina___l, etc; in general a particular
person.
Group: e.g. gang of youth, minority group, etc.; organized or unorganized group
of people.
Institutional: e.g. school, government agency, etc.; governmental or
nongovernmental institution
Structural: e.g. economical or social system, party line, official corruption
in general, etc.
6. Opinion: a judgment held with confidence, a conclusion held without
positive knowledge.
Conflicting opinion: more than one opinion presented by reporter and/or
interviewee without agreement on a particular issue.
7. Evidence: signs or facts on which a conclusion can be based.
Interviewees opinion only: opinion(s) presented in a report not by reporter but
by interviewee(s) only.
8. Identifiable___ source of information:every non-repetitive source to which
particular information presented by reporter may be attributed. The source may
be any individual or agency or or institution credited with providing
information.
Directly cited source: Individuals interviewed in sound bites (appear and speak
to the camera).
Indirectly cited source: Information provided by the source was summarized by
the reporter (e.g. "according to the chief of fire department...". "As the
spokesperson for...declared ... ") no matter if the source appeared on the
screen or not.
Sound bite: often called "talking head"; a section of speech, interview, or
comment that was included in a report.
Government refers to all government___al officials, members of ruling party or
parties and employees of governmental agencies.
Opposition to government means members of legal or illegal parties or
organizations which oppose ruling government.
Labor Unions for the purpose of this study are considered as political parties.
Interest groups are all formal organizations, e.g. professional associations,
business clubs, student organizations and other organized groups of people and
their members if individuals were presented in the story not as private persons
but as members of particular organization. Labor unions are excluded from this
category.
Business persons: owners of the enterprises or management executives presented
out of t___'he context of politics.
Community leaders: individuals presented as leaders of local groups of
inhabitants in the context of local problems.
Celebrity figures famous, respected, non-political figures (e.g. movie stars,
sports stars, writers, journalists, etc.).
Professionals e.g. lawyers, teachers, doctors, etc.
Academics: teacher, researchers, scientists at college or university level.
Foreigners: official representatives of states other than Poland; individuals
presented as citizens of countries other than Poland
Persons affected: individuals directly affected by the event or problem and
presented in the story out of the context of their political or organizational
affiliations.
Table 1. Topic distribution of reports in the periods of 1988-1989 and
1994-1995
1988-1989 1994-1995 Total
Topic % (n) % (n) % (n)
Politics 20.00 (13) 19.30 (11) 19.67 (24)
Inter/diplom 6.15 (4) 15.79 (9) 10.66 (13)
Economics 3.08 (2) 8.77 (5) 5.74 (7)
Social 10.77 (7) 7.02 (4) 9.02 (11)
Military 1.54 (1) 7.02 (4) 4.10 (5)
Crime 1.54 (1) 14.04 (8) 7.38 (9)
Sci/Tech/Med 4.62 (3) 0 (0) 2.46 (3)
Culture 30.77 (20) 3.51 (2) 18.03 (22)
Media 3.08 (2) 3.51 (2) 3.28 (4)
Religion 6.15 (4) 1.75 (1) 4.10 (5)
Race/Ethnicity 0 (0) 5.26 (3) 2.46 (3)
Tourism/Travel 0 (0) 1.7___5 (1) .82 (1)
Ecology/Environment 0 (0) 3.51 (2) 1.64 (2)
Sports 1.54 (1) 1.75 (1) 1.64 (2)
Human Inter. 4.62 (3) 5.26 (3) 4.92 (6)
History/Anniv. 6.15 (4) 1.75 (1) 4.10 (5)
Other 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
---------------------------------------------- Totals 100 (65) 100
(57) 100 (122)
________________________________________________________
Collapsed categories
Hard news 43.08 (28) 71.93 (41) 56.56 (69)
Others 56.92 (37) 28.07 (16) 43.44 (53)
---------------------------------------------- Totals 100 (65)
100 (57) 100 (122)
Chi-Square=10.29; DF: 1; p< .05 Table 2. Types of news stories by time
periods 1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
Type % (n) % (n) % (n)
Issue stories 33.85 (22) 75.44 (43) 53.28 (65)
Event stories 66.15 (43) 24.56 (14) 46.72 (57)
---------------------------------------------
Totals 100 (65) 100 (57) 100 (122)
Chi-Square=21.105; DF:1; p=.0001
_________________________________________________________
Table 3. Types of identifiable sources by time periods.
1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
Type % (n) % (n) % (n)
Government 23.61 (17) 33.80 (48) 30.37 (65)
Opposition to government 5.56 (4) 2.12 (3) 3.27 (7)
Interest groups 6.94 (5) 6.33 (9) 6.54 (14)
Community leaders 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0)
Celebrity figures 11.12 (8) 2.11 (3) 5.14 (11)
Businessperson 6.94 (5) 2.82 (4) 4.22 (9)
Academics 0 (0) 1.41 (2) 93 (2)
Professionals 4.16 (3) 13.38 (19) 10.28 (22)
Foreigners 11.11 (8) 11.97 (17) 11.68 (25)
People affected 27.78 (20) 19.72 (28) 22.43 (48)
Other 2.78 (2) 6.34 (9) 5.14 (11)
----------------------------------------------
Totals 100 (72) 100 (142) 100 (214)
Collapsed categories
Government 23.61 (17) 33.80 (48) 30.37 (65)
Others 76.39 (55) 66.20 (94) 69.63 (149)
----------------------------------------------
Totals 100 (72) 100 (142) 100 (214)
Chi-Square=2.34; DF: 1; p> .05
Table 4. Presence of a conflict or problem in reports submitted in 1988-1989,
1994-1995
1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
% (n) % (n) % (n)
yes 26.15 (17) 73.68 (42) 48.36 (59)
no 73.85 (48) 26.32 (15) 51.64 (63)
--------------------------------------------------------
Totals 100 (65) 100 (57) 100 (122)
Chi-Square=27.472; DF: 1; p=.0001
Table 5. Level of cause attribution by ___time periods
1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
Level % (n) % (n) % (n)
Individual level 0 (0) 4.76 (2) 3.39 (2)
Group level 5.88 (1) 28.57 (4) 22.03 (13)
Institutional level 52.94 (9) 35.71 (15) 40.68 (24)
Structural level 41.18 (7) 30.95 (13) 33.90 (20)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Totals 100 (17) 100 (42) 100 (59)
Chi-Square=4.893; DF: 3; p=.1798
___Table 6. Types of opinions on the same issue in reports by time periods
1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
% (n) % (n) % (n)
Types
non-conflicting 76.47 (13) 38.10 (16) 49.15 (29)
conflicting 23.53 (4) 61.90 (26) 50.85 (30)
Totals 100 ___0 (17) 100 (42) 100 (59)
Chi-Square=7.131; DF: 1; p=.0076
Table 7. Presence of evidence supporting opinions by time periods
1988-1989 1994-1995 Totals
Level of evidence % (n) % (n) % (n)
no evidence 52.94 (9) 21.43 (9) 30.51 (18)
with evidence 47.06 (8) 54.76 (23) 52.54 (31)
interviewee's opinion only 0 (0) 23.81 (10) 16.95 (10)
---------------------------------------------- Totals 100 (17) 100
(42) 100 (59)
Chi-Square=8.123; DF: 2; p=.0172
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