ANC, MK had most media coverage during elections - MMA report

JOHANNESBURG - Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has ranked political parties that received the most media coverage during the elections, with the African National Congress (ANC) and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party topping the list.
 
While the MK Party was unrepresented in Parliament until now, the party managed to surpass the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in the media coverage space, according to the media research organisation.

MMA released its latest report on Tuesday, which covered this year's elections.

The report also showed nine parties at the bottom of the list that received 0.1% media coverage.

The ANC topped the list of political parties that were given the most coverage by the media during the election campaign.

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But while newcomer Rise Mzansi was perceived to have received a lot of coverage, MMA data said otherwise, with the party receiving only 2.6% of the coverage, slightly below ActionSA, which received 3.5%.

Media Monitoring Africa stated that while the coverage could be said to be equitable, it said "there is also little doubt that smaller, new parties would feel legitimately aggrieved by the minimal coverage they received across the media".

According to the report, data also showed that the MK Party received the second-highest amount of coverage, at just over 20%, saying it's a "significant share of the coverage, especially for a new political party not represented in Parliament".

But the report said that given the controversy and public interest issues around the Jacob Zuma led-party, legal challenges between MK and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), it came as no surprise that the media focused on the party.