Liberal MP Craig Laundy says the media is is not giving enough time to the ‘No’ case opposing marriage equality.
The MP, who is opposed to allowed same sex couples having the right to marry, said people in his New South Wales electorate of Reid were enjoying having their chance to have a say on the issue, but he took issue with how the media are covering the debate.
“It’s been interesting to see the churches in my electorate, which have really come together and talked about this is a very open and respectful way among their congregations.” Laundy said.
The MP said the churches in his electorate had been really good and bringing people together for hearing the reasons behind the ‘no’ case, but he was not happy with the Australian media’s coverage.
“The problem I would say in the media, is it’s hard to get the case for ‘no’ out there, because the minute you do, a- you don’t get must oxygen…”
Host Laura Jaynes interrupted to clarify that Laundy was really claiming that the no side of the debate was deprived of media attention.
“I would argue, that the media coverage that I’ve witnessed on a daily basis has definitely favoured, I perceive, the ‘yes’ side of the debate.”
While Laundy believes there has been a bias towards the ‘yes’ campaign, two separate reports have shown that the opposite is true.
A survey commissioned by The Guardian, and conducted by Isentia Research and Insights, has shown that the leading spokesperson Coalition for Marriage is mentioned in the media more than representatives of the Equality Campaign.
The research revealed that Lyle Shelton, Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby, had been mentioned  2,506 times across radio, television, print and online media in the last fortnight.
By comparison, three ‘yes’ campaigners. Alex Greenwich, Tiernan Brady and Sally Rugg have together been mentioned 2,052 times.
The results follow an article published by Buzzfeed Australia that highlighted that the ‘no’ campaign were receiving significantly more media coverage than the Yes campaign.
Buzzfeed’s researchers monitored a week of news and found  4,334 news stories in print, online and on TV and radio from September 10 to 17. The ‘no’ campaign was mentioned in the media almost four times as much as the ‘yes’ campaign.
Analysts have also estimated that the ‘no’ campaign have outspent the ‘yes’ campaign five to one in paid advertising.
OIP Staff
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