Still pulling
Admittedly, the candidates’ choice of words was not always the most selective. But when relevant topics are discussed – which was only partly the case in this week’s ORF debate – then the electorate is interested. Up to 711,000 viewers – an average of 638,000 – are encouraging evidence that Austrians are not completely indifferent to the EU election. The first of the two elephant rounds on Puls 24 reached more than half a million viewers. The older citizens who decide on the election do not get their information via Instagram or Tiktok clips, but on analogue television. Following the viewpoints there is not only entertaining, it also reinforces or even changes decisions.
Only folklore
First, the few positives: Because the discussion culture in elephant rounds is usually quite polite, they tend to help the image of politics. And they have a certain informational value in terms of content. Apart from that, there is no serious opinion researcher who believes that this format has the potential to have a measurable influence on election results. This is unlike TV debates, where controversial viewer positions and personal characteristics such as quick-wittedness or eloquence become much clearer to the audience in one-on-one debates. Contours that are often blurred beyond recognition in the staccato of five election candidates. Elephant rounds are therefore usually somewhere between folklore and media tokenism.
Read more about this topic here: The top candidates and the last elephant round
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