Minor Parties and Media Coverage During the 2005 New Zealand Election

Following the 2005 election, a number of minor parties claimed that their poor performance on election night was due in part to the coverage their campaigns had received in the media. This article examines the validity of these claims through an analysis of the extent and type of coverage received by ACT, United Future, New Zealand First and the Greens in the four metropolitan newspapers. The article concludes that newspapers follow a particular media logic when covering election campaigns. Such a logic does not necessarily disadvantage small parties. Minor parties can attract considerable media attention where they - or their leaders in particular - are involved in crucial electorate contests and/or where the coalition intentions of the party are not pre-determined. However, such coverage tends to be 'game-based' coverage - 'who's winning?', 'who's losing?', 'who are you going into coalition with?'. And there is no guarantee that this coverage will be favourable - even if it is 'fair'.