This pioneering study, the first to focus exclusively on the role of
media in a Singapore election and to use empirical methods and concepts
from mass communication, addresses these questions:
(a) Who uses which sources to get what sorts of information about the
elections?
(b) What was the extent and general content of the election coverage in
the various media? Did the media favour any party, and to what extent?
(c) What were the campaign issues the media and in the minds of the voters?
(d) What level of credibility was accorded to media coverage of the election?
Was the coverage perceived as fair and complete?
(e) To what extent did the media's agenda determine public perception of
election issues?
A survey of 434 voters, and a systematic analysis of the newspaper and television coverage of the election yielded some definitive answers to these questions and set the stage for more vigorous analysis of future Singapore elections.