Alcohol control – 59, the new Labour Code – 41. This is the result of the percentage coverage of these two topics in the Lithuanian media over the past twelve months. After the relevant laws came into force and the debate on these long-dominant issues in Lithuania quieted down somewhat in the public sphere, the media monitoring and analysis company “Mediaskopas” summarized how these topics developed in the public arena.
The company’s study shows how media attention to these topics was distributed over the 12 months from June 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017, additionally dividing this period into two separate six-month intervals: from June 1, 2016, to December 1, 2016, and from December 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017.
“We chose this period deliberately. We were interested in comparing how much these issues were reflected in the media during the last half-year of the previous government led by Algirdas Butkevičius and during the first half-year of work of the government led by Saulius Skvernelis, which took office in December last year,” says Mediaskopas Director Jūratė Stankuvienė.
In total, during the period from June 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017, the country’s media recorded 9,395 mentions related to alcohol control, and 6,436 mentions related to the new Labour Code (in percentage terms, 59 and 41). Meanwhile, during the last six months of the 16th Government’s term, the new Labour Code was mentioned more often (4,359; 55%) than alcohol control (3,539; 45%), although the difference is not very pronounced. The figures look quite different during the first half-year of the 17th Government: Labour Code – 2,172 (27%), alcohol control – 5,895 (73%).
During the last half-year of his leadership of the Cabinet of Ministers, A. Butkevičius was mentioned 436 times in the media in the context of the new Labour Code, and 19 times in the context of alcohol control. During the first half-year of the government he led, S. Skvernelis appears 319 times on the Labour Code topic and 264 times on alcohol control.
In the alcohol restrictions topic during the same period, the most frequently mentioned person was the chairman of the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, Ramūnas Karbauskis — 477 times. Also very active here was Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga — 444 mentions, compared with the health ministers of the 16th Government, Rimantė Šalaševičiūtė (21), Juras Požela (11), and Juozas Olekas, who temporarily served as head of the Ministry of Health at the end of the term (0).
“R. Karbauskis was also active on the New Labour Code topic (122 mentions during the period from December 1, 2016, to June 1, 2017), but the absolute leader in this area over the entire analyzed 12-month period is President Dalia Grybauskaitė (892). As we can see in the media coverage of the recent period, both topics — the new Labour Code and alcohol restrictions — are not yet completely extinguished and, given the right circumstances, could flare up again with full force,” says Mediaskopas head J. Stankuvienė.
This media study was carried out by monitoring publications in national, regional, and district newspapers and magazines, as well as online portals and news agency reports.
