| Abstract [eng] |
Effective political communication requires both social media users and media. Politicians use social media to bring together like-minded voters, post news and positions that are relevant to them, and criticize opponents. Adding politicians’ statements and comments to media stories is useful for them as it broadens their audience and helps to develop political strategies. Active political communication is particularly important during elections. This paper analyses how the selected candidates for the 2024 Lithuanian Presidential Elections period created a personal image on their “Facebook” accounts, how they framed their programmes. It also examines how these candidates were framed by the media, on which topics they were visible, and what frames dominated during the election campaign. The aim of this Master’s thesis is threefold: (1) to analyze the communication of the presidential candidates on their “Facebook” accounts and to identify the frames they use to enhance the attractiveness of their personality and programmatic attitudes; (2) to identify the frames used by the most popular news portals in the country to highlight the personalities and programmatic attitudes of the presidential candidates; (3) to compare the frames chosen by the candidates and the ones identified by the news portals. To achieve the aim of this research work, the objectives of the work were to analyze the significance of political communication in social media and the press, to define the frames that have dominated politicians’ posts and the media. It also aims to compare how the frames chosen by candidates in their political communication differ from the frames identified in news portals, through which audiences “see” candidates and their campaign programmes. The research uses qualitative content analysis with elements of quantitative analysis, based on Frame Theory approaches. The results of the study showed that, to some extent, the portals delfi.lt and 15min.lt applied similar personality frame categories about the candidates. Among the candidates’ posts and 15min.lt, personality frames were the most prevalent, while in the case of delfi.lt the game frame was more popular. Both the candidates’ and the news portals used the issue frame the least. This research paper partially fills the research niche of the 2024 Lithuanian Presidential Elections by analyzing the politicians’ posts on “Facebook”, news media publications, and framing aspects of their personality and programmatic points. |
