Chapter 14
In: Politics and the Media in Poland from the 19th to the 21st Centuries
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Abstract
Scientific objective: In 2020, Małgorzata Kidawa Błońska was the presidential candidate of the opposition party Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelska). However, after just a few weeks of campaigning, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska withdrew her candidacy, basing her decision on a dramatic drop in her standing in opinion polls. The purpose of this paper is to identify the possible reasons behind the candidate’s slump in popularity in opinion polls. To this end, the following research questions were posed: 1. How did the media discourse about Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska’s candidature for the office of President of the Republic of Poland change over time? 2. How was the candidate’s electoral programme presented in the media?
Research methods: This analysis is an interdisciplinary project. It relies on electronic tools for the processing of natural language. The Polish branch of the interdisciplinary research infrastructure CLARIN (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure), which is a part of ESFRI (European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures, European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures), was used. The analysis was carried out using a statistical corpus and tools for lexical and sentiment analysis. The methods of analysis include time stamping and identification of correlations based on topic modelling, which enables extraction of topic threads from texts related to Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska and the depiction of the discourse in specific periods.
Results and conclusions: Kidawa-Błońska’s withdrawal from the presidential election was caused by an inappropriate and ineffective media policy. During the period considered there was de facto no prominent topic that would describe or refer to the electoral programme of Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska.
Cognitive value: The electoral staff of candidates in presidential or parliamentary elections can use this study and thus minimize the risk of insufficient visibility of the candidate’s political programme in the media.