A study on press coverage of the 1997 general election.

Abstract

Singaporeans depend upon the press as the principal means for information about elections. Such heavy dependency leads to greater exposure to media content. Several agenda-setting studies have confirmed that the press is capable of telling people what to think about and how to think about it. As a result, the way the Singapore press reports on activities of political parties and the type of opinions it conveys no doubt impinges upon readers' perceptions of the political parties as well as their understanding of the campaign issues of the day. In view of the important role the press plays in the Singapore electoral process, this study attempts to explore how the press covered the 1997 general election.