A "SITE OF MEMORY" OR AN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN? A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF
CROATIAN MEDIA PRIOR TO THE 2015 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS Cover Image

"MJESTO SJEĆANJA" ILI IZBORNA KAMPANJA? ANALIZA SADRŽAJA HRVATSKIH MEDIJA PRIJE PARLAMENTARNIH IZBORA 2015.
A "SITE OF MEMORY" OR AN ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN? A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF CROATIAN MEDIA PRIOR TO THE 2015 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Author(s): Marko Mustapić, Ivan Balabanić
Subject(s): Media studies, Government/Political systems, Electoral systems, Evaluation research, Sociology of Culture, Sociology of Politics
Published by: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar
Keywords: cultural memory; electoral campaign; media; content analysis; Croatia;

Summary/Abstract: After a brief theoretical consideration of the cultural memory and political communication in electoral campaigns, this paper analyses statements of politicians during the 2015 Croatian parliamentary campaign. The main goal of the paper is to establish the manner in which events and happenings from modern Croatian history and the various ‘collective memories' surrounding them were present in the media excerpts analysed. Research of excerpts from the leading Croatian media outlets (daily newspapers, TV stations, web portals) was performed through content analysis. The results show that excerpts including political communication about modern historical themes were present to a significant extent, and that discussions of these topics were most often provoked by the largest political parties, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). On the level of general conclusion, it can be claimed that the electoral campaign largely became a "site of memory" where further political conflicts surrounding historical issues were generated, while discussions of solutions to numerous social problems were neglected.

  • Issue Year: 27/2018
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 431-451
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Croatian