The Media Coverage of the 2021 Iraqi Council of Representatives Election in the Kurdish News Websites NRT and Rudaw as Case Studies

Abstract

This paper is a scientific effort to research the handling of the Kurdish websites of the 2021 Iraqi Representatives Council Election. We look into their way of covering the news as the campaigns begun, the process, and the declaration of the results. The importance of this paper from a scientific and academic point is that it clarifies and simplifies the way the new age media handles elections, specifically in their behavioral patterns towards an important topic such as elections. Little has been written about this topic, as such more research is necessary to understand it from all its facets. And in the practical part, the paper tries to identify the way the new age media deals with elections. The results of this paper may be able to help the media better handle the importance of this topic so as to cover the process more responsibly and do their duty in a better way. The samples for this research are taken from NRT and Rudaw news agencies. All the news pertaining the are taken as examples. We attempt to explain and explore the news and its contents in a descriptive method. The most important results noted from this paper are: The sites taken as examples in the research covered many areas and different topics pertaining to the research. However, they also announced the results prior to the official statement by the Election Committee, as they had depended on data from biased individuals and/or their reporters. In some of their articles the sources have not been mentioned, which affects how well the reader may trust them.