EXPLORING THE ESSENCE OF PRIMETIME DEBATE SHOWS INSIGHTS FROM SENIOR JOURNALIST’S INTERVIEWS

ABSTRACT

Primetime debate shows are impactful as they are the influential program format of television which can form the public opinion of masses around the political issues. According to Oyesomi (2014), political awareness and participation are extremely important for the legitimacy of the democratic system. Media is powerful in terms of changing the decisions of the masses about any political issue such as casting vote in a election. The major objective of this present research is to understand and investigate the mechanism of primetime debates and the impact they can have on all the stakeholders. Qualitative research methodology was employed to understand the mechanism and an interview was used as the research method. The researcher has conducted interviews with 12 senior journalists to study the objectives. This research is based on primary data collected through the interviews. The main objectives of the research are a) to understand the nuances of the media treatment of primetime debate shows. b) to know the role of the moderator in these primetime debate shows. This research is based on primary data, and the interview method was used to collect data.

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