Study confirms that the national press is biased in favour of Brexit

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Series Details 23.05.16
Publication Date 23/05/2016
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On the 23 May 2016, one month before the EU referendum vote, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford released interim findings from a study it was undertaking with PRIME Research, media insight specialists, into press coverage of the referendum campaign.

The Study showed that the majority of press coverage in EU referendum campaign was heavily skewed in favour of Brexit in the first two months of campaign.

The final report UK press coverage of the EU Referendum was published in September 2016 (access via related url hyperlink below).

This report examined how the UK press covered the EU Referendum story, and looks at what the key arguments, spokespeople, tone of articles and areas of focus were during the referendum. The report was based on analysis of two days of press coverage each week for London editions of nine national newspapers over 4 months of the campaign.

Of the 2378 articles analysed which were focused on the referendum 41% were pro leave as against 27% pro-remain. Press coverage focused heavily on politicians and campaign spokespeople with relatively little few analysts/experts, academics and foreign politicians cited, and with more attention to personalities and the contest than the issues The press reflected the generally negative tone of the campaign, but the Remain camp’s future focussed messages were the most negative, particularly on the economy, compared to the Leave camp’s more positive tone about a UK outside the EU.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/may/23/study-confirms-that-the-national-press-is-biased-in-favour-of-brexit
Related Links
ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Press Release, 20.05.16: Study shows that majority of press coverage in EU referendum campaign was heavily skewed in favour of Brexit in first two months of campaign https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/study-shows-majority-press-coverage-eu-referendum-campaign-was-heavily-skewed-favour
Politico, 23.05.16: British press ‘heavily skewed to Brexit’ http://www.politico.eu/blogs/spence-on-media/2016/05/british-press-heavily-skewed-to-brexit/
The Conversation, 16.06.16: Hard Evidence: analysis shows extent of press bias towards Brexit https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-analysis-shows-extent-of-press-bias-towards-brexit-61106
Al Jazeera English, 05.07.16: UK media: Going back on Brexit bias? http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2016/07/uk-media-brexit-bias-160704095635113.html
Blog: LSE EuroppBlog, 12.08.16: Understanding the role of the mass media in the EU Referendum http://bit.ly/2awfQ2j
Politico, 11.08.16: British media’s Brexit bounce http://www.politico.eu/blogs/spence-on-media/2016/08/british-medias-brexit-bounce/
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Press Release, 14.09.16: UK press coverage of EU Referendum campaign dominated by pro-Leave http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/uk-press-coverage-eu-referendum-campaign-dominated-pro-leave
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Report: UK press coverage of the EU Referendum http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/publication/uk-press-coverage-eu-referendum

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