Identifier

etd-11082004-135255

Degree

Master of Mass Communication (MMC)

Department

Mass Communication

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The November 2, 2003, parliamentary election caused a significant political crisis in the Republic of Georgia. During the election campaign, the political parties questioned the desire of the government to carry out a fair election. They blamed President Edward Shevardnadze for fabricating the election. After the election, the opposition parties did not recognize the results and claimed that there were massive fabrications (the number of people who voted was much more than the number of people who were in voters’ list). The public supported this position, and several huge demonstrations demanded the resignation of President Shevardnadze. Two weeks after the election, under the pressure from all parts of Georgia, Shevardnadze stepped down. Since the main symbol of the opposition was rose, this event was called the “Revolution of the Rose.” This study analyzes the media coverage of the parliamentary election. The aim of the study is to examine the extent the government and opposition were able to affect news coverage. The study involves the descriptive content analysis of the stories published by three of the highest circulated Georgian newspapers – 24 Hours, Resonance, and Alia from September 25, 2003 when the election campaign officially started, to the election day November 2, 2003.

Date

2004

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Denis Wu

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.813

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