The Coalition for Marriage claim to be the voice of the silent majority, and regularly argue that their voice is being shut out of the debate on marriage equality, but several surveys have shown that the claim is simply not true.

- Advertisement -

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.

A spokesperson for the Equality Campaign said that contrary to the claims of their opposition, they were the underdog in the debate.

“We are the underdog in this campaign and always have been,” the spokesperson said.

“We are up against a powerful machine, we’ve always known that. We encourage our supporters, we know we’ve got supporters right across the nation, get out and vote.”

Analysts have also estimated that the ‘no’ campaign have outspent the ‘yes’ campaign five to one in paid advertising.

When Lyle Shelton took to the stage at the National Press Club a few weeks ago he said it was a “David and Goliath battle”, he may however cast his organisation in the wrong role.

OIP Staff