Four newspapers' coverage of the 1993 Australian federal election campaign

The media in Australia are often criticized for focusing on party leaders, thereby contributing to a presidential perception in Australian politics. This study attempted to add to the knowledge about 'presidential-style' coverage of Australian political elections by looking at both the amount and type of coverage four newspapers awarded the leaders of the two major political forces in Australia during the 1993 federal election campaign. The research design, which identified the major issue, the primary candidate and the attitudinal direction of each campaign story, was borrowed from the Stempel and Windhauser (1991) study of newspaper coverage of the 1984 and 1988 American presidential election campaigns. The content analysis showed the leader of the incumbent party received between 18 percent and 24 percent of the total coverage compared to the coverage of the leader of the opposition falling between 13 percent and 17 percent. Like the American study, this study found more emphasis placed on the candidates' campaign activities than on any of the substantive issues. However, the largely neutral coverage of the Australian candidates adds weight to the idea that the media in Australia are more likely to adopt a "referee role" during political election campaigns.