R. Ford, Abiyi (Professor)Girmay, Yosef2018-07-042023-11-082018-07-042023-11-082005-12http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/6285One of the most basic expressions of democracy is election. The place of multi-party elections is practically meaningless without free press. The role of mass media and its active role in opening up the democratization process is indeed highly important matter. Fair and competitive elections require freedom of expressions and/or freedom of the press. Freedom of the press requires the availability of alternative sources of information or vibrant media, as part and parcel of democratization process. Mass media offer the public a choice among various political parties, candidates, and even polices as a platform for discussion. The press empowers their reader by making them aware of the civil and political rights and explaining how and why these rights should be exercised. Yet, in a modern, largely less developed country, where the mass media exercise relative freedom, they will always devote considerable, and often partisan, coverage to the general election. The relationship between the press and election is an intricate business. Indeed the consensus in international election research and observation is that electoral process cannot be evaluated and understood without free press. To explore the wider political climate in which the press operates; and to deepen and accelerate democratization, the role of press in general and newspapers published during election time in particular should be investigated. Therefore, this thesis attempts to examine the press’s coverage of the election in order to determine the extent and nature of, and bias in the coverage of the May 2005 Ethiopian election. The thesis also measures how these forces promote, spread and even manipulate the press in the time of election. It calls attention to how different forces use and misuse the press. 8 Then, the following questions attempted to be covered: what are roles of the press play in the democratization process in Ethiopia? Who and what spread the bias? How much? Which determining factors contribute to the bias in coverage? Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collections are used in this study. Literature related with the topic of the research is reviewed. The primary data is gathered and analyzed from seven selected Amharic newspapers published in the final four weeks of election campaign in the country; and, to this effect 796 titles by way of content analysis are employed to cover events and circumstances on the electoral processes at specific times of the election. Many variables and unit of analysis are used to substantiate the analysis of the extent and nature of bias in the May 2005 Ethiopian Election. As the period from 12 April to 12 May 2005, a period of intensive election campaign, the data was examined and as the sampling was broad and representative on the whole, the results are considered to be accurate, typical and relevant. It is hoped that this study will contribute to the scholarship of media in Ethiopia; and also to serve as a seminal study in the relationship between the press and election, as well as to the democratization process in Ethiopia.enElection in EthiopiaThesis