Done by; SALMA THARWAT RIHAM IBRAHIM YARA OMAR DOAA FATHALLH RADY LOBNA KHAIRY Talk shows as a source of information on presidential candidates

Egypt’s 2012 Presidential Elections

Problem Statement: The problem summarizes in knowing whether the television talk shows are a source of information about presidential candidates in the Egyptian presidential elections 2012 for youth with both genders. This is tested within the framework of whether their choices are goal-oriented or not, what factor is the most determinant in choosing which talk show to follow and whether gender affects the choice of the talk show.

Introduction: Egyptian people cannot be described as anything but freshmen when it comes to presidential elections The 2012 elections are the first since 1952 where the people do not know who is going to be Egypt’s The elections present a new challenge for the evolving Egyptian media. Hosting potential presidential candidates on popular Egyptian TV talk shows is overwhelming, as per a single interview a candidate can be casted-out or publically thought of as suitable for president position.

Introduction: With a list of more than 10 popular Egyptian talk shows aired on various Egyptian TV stations whether state-owned or private- owned, Egyptian voters are served with a selection of opinions and political analysis that aids in the decision of who deserves to be “The President.” It is a new experience for the media, Therefore, it is also a fresh medium for study to measure the most effective Egyptian TV talk show shaping the public opinion and the contributing factors to the reasons behind Egyptian people following and is therefore influenced by its viewing.

Literature Review: Television talk shows were first introduced by the U.S to the world in It was not before the 1990s that politicians started to appear extensively on talk shows as they realized it was one of the most effective ways to reach the American public. Former president Bill Clinton was the first American president to appear on talk shows as part of his campaign in Ghazawi (2010) argues that Egypt was the first Arab country to feature the talk show format in 1960.

Literature Review: During the past year, talk shows proved to be inseparable from politics. Wael Ghoneim's famous interview on Al AsheraMassan exemplifies this. As Ghoneim talked about the martyrs of the revolution, he got overwhelmed, cried and left the show on air. Some consider this interview to be one of the reasons the protests continued in Tahrir Another example is when the former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigned the next day he was hosted by YousryFouda on ONTV after he was fiercely attacked on air by novelist Alaa Al Aswany.

Theoretical Framework: Uses and Gratification: This approach aims to test the audience's agenda through asking "why people used the media?" Katz said that the research question is "what do people do with the media?" and is not "what do the media do to people?"(Uses and gratifications, 2005) This theory contradicts the magic bullet theory that says the audience is passive.

Theoretical Framework: The "Uses and gratifications" theory explains five needs which are 1. cognitive needs to know information, 2. affective needs to have pleasure and fulfill the emotional needs, 3. personal integrative needs to support the self-esteem need, 4. social integrative needs to socialize with people, 5. tension free needs to relieve from tension.(Communication Theory, 2010)

Research Questions: RQ1: To what extent are youth active and goal-oriented in their choice of media for information on the presidential candidates? RQ2: Which is the most resourceful Egyptian talk show that Egyptians use to gather information about presidential candidates? RQ3: What is the most determinant factor in choosing which talk show to follow? RQ4: Does gender affect the choice of the talk show?

Methodology This paper follows the quantitative method by using self-administered surveys. Population: Youth between the ages of 18 to 29 A and B social classes Cairo residents Both genders Sample: For lack of a list of the population, the researchers opted for a non-probability sample. Aquota sample based on gender is used to ensure enough representation of both genders in order to study the effect of gender on media choice (RQ4)

Results RQ1: To what extent are youth active and goal-oriented in their choice of media for information on the presidential candidates? Results showed that youth are active in gathering the information and not just getting them from any source, they seek specific information, and they are goal oriented towards the political information. I just join in and watch any talk show my family is watching 31% agreed, 22% are neutral and 36% disagreed I don’t seek specific interviews with presidential candidates, I watch the ones I find posted online 18% agree, 28% neutral, 43% disagree.

Results RQ2: Which is the most resourceful Egyptian talk show that Egyptians use to gather information about presidential candidates? Misr Tantakheb Al ra2ees got the highest number 1 ranking for 29% Yoursi fouda’s program Akher kalam on ONTV program with 24%

Results

RQ3: What is the most determinant factor in choosing which talk show to follow? Results showed that the presenter is the decisive factor for choosing the talk show and seeking credible political information. The TV presenter doesn’t matter as long as the program is featuring the candidate they are interested in 38% agreed, 20% where neutral, 34% disagreed (results are almost neutral). I follow my favorite TV presenter regardless the channel 64% agreed, 17% neutral and 9% disagreed. Presidential candidates are featured on most T.V. channels, what matters is how the talk show presenter handles the discussion and the kind of questions they ask. 56% agreed, 20% neutral and 13% disagreed.

Results Which of the following TV presenters do you find most credible?

Results RQ4: Does gender affect the choice of the talk show? Based on the two most ranked talk shows misr tantakheb al ra2ees on CBC and Akher klam on ON TV, Rank 1: MisrTantakheb al ra2ees 15 male and 14 female Rank 2: Akher kalam 7 male and 17 female Since the first ranking has similarly equal results while the second has a bigger difference, so the gender here is not an effective factor on the choice of the talk shows.

Limitations: The researchers opted for a non-probability sample for lack of a list of the population. The study was carried out on 100 surveys due to time limitations. 11 respondents did not watch talk shows so they were excluded from the sample. In the ranking question, many respondents marked only their top 3, so the results of the ranking are not 100% accurate.

Recommendation Conducting the same study using a probability sample, instead of a non- probability one, in order to be able to generalize the results to the population. Conducting the same study with including larger age and education segments in the population in order to measure the effects of these variables on the choice of talk shows favored for getting information about presidential candidates. Content analysis of the talk shows in order to determine the differences between talk show presenters in interviewing presidential candidates. Studying how respondents measure the credibility of TV presenters.

Thank you :) Any Questions?