4.2 The Influence of the Media Flashcards
What is a limitation to ‘The Sun Wot Won it’ (1992)
60% of readers still voted Lab
3
Describe rational choice theory
- Voters consider strengths and weaknesses of each party
- Expressive rational voting - voting for party that will benefit society
- Instrumental rational voting - vote for party likely to benefit themselves
3
What is the impact of TV and TV debates in UK Politics
- Affect leader image
- Governing competency
- esp with head-to-head debating
2
Give examples of the importance of TV and TV debates in UK Politics
- Neil Kinnock Sheffield Rally 1992 - ‘we’re all right’ mocked - arguably led to defeat
- 2010 debate - Cleggmania - snap poll showed 24% inc in support
2
Give examples of the limited importance of TV and TV debates in UK Politics
- 1992 - Sheffield Rally occurred only week before elec - does not alone account for diff in polls and result
- 2010 - LD only inc vote share by 1%
4
Describe social media’s impact on UK Politics
- Increasingly effective avenue for political campaigning
- Speeds up process of issues taking political centre stage
- Targeted ads towards demographics (age, gender, region, etc)
- 2015 - UKIP spent large proportion of campaign budget on Facebook targeted ads - won 12.5% of vote
2
Describe the negative effects of social media on politics
- Misleading claims - fact check - hinders democracy (e.g. 72m Turkish immigrants in EU Ref)
- Soundbites can reduce trust in politics, thus damaging democracy
3
Describe the limits to social media’s influence on UK Politics
- Online news sources accessed more - 44% accessed BBC news during 2019 elec according to survey
- social media acts as echo chamber - content consumed by users largely affirms views
- 2019 - Con halved spending on social media ads (in spite of winter election)
5
Describe Tik Tok’s impact on UK Politics
- Growing political influence, esp on Gen Z
- George Galloway, Akhmed Yakoob
- Some MPs, like Grant Shapps, have Tik Tok accounts
- Banned on govt phones and on Westminster estate
- Influence in events: Ukraine, BLM
4
Describe broadcast media’s impact on UK Politics
- TV and radio
- OFCOM - regulate/monitor coverage
- Idea of ‘spin’, or a spin doctor
- New TV channels e.g. GB News with Farage as host
4 - total viewership, age, class
Give stats on the broadcast media
- 70% access TV for news
- 94% over 65s use TV for news
- 50% 16-24 yr old
- Constant across class
4
Describe a well-known spin doctor
- Lord Mandelson
- Central figure in New Lab
- former TV executive - media savvy
- named ‘Prince of Darkness’
5
Describe the BBC
- Chairman - political appointee, Director-General - non-political appointee
- ‘Impartial news’ - free from political interference
- Most pop broadcaster
- Most used news website/app - 28% total usage of news sites in 2019 election campaign
2
Describe recent news concerning the BBC
- Gary Lineker - suspension and subsequent presenter walkout
- Sharp - £800k loan for Boris Johnson
3
Describe satire
- TV - HIGNFY, The Thick of It
- Print - Private Eye
- Limitation - spitting Image revival cancelled after 2 seasons, implying low ratings and impact
4
Describe the Iraq War and the media
- Led by New Lab and Blair
- Backed by Con and most papers
- Public trust crisis - involvement had no basis with no ‘weapons of mass destruction’
- BBC news leak - David Kelly (Weapons Expert) claimed that Downing St had over exaggerated Iraq’s arms capabilities
5
Describe the electoral impact of the Iraq War
- 2005 elec
- Lab majority reduced from 167 to 66
- LD inc vote seats to 62 (+11) - did not back Iraq War
- Lab won with 22% electorate support - legitimacy questioned
- SNP defeated Lab in 2007 Scottish elecs
What is dominant ideology theory?
emphasises that ideas, beliefs and culture of ruling elite will prevail to safeguard status quo
7
Describe the circulation of newspapers
- Decline in circulation
- Fall of 52% by 2018
- Bestsellers: The Sun and The Daily Mail
- Free: Metro and Evening Standard
- Online only: The Independent (excluding the i)
- Move online - compete with news websites e.g. BBC News
- Decline of trust e.g. hacking
5
Describe the readership of newspapers
- 58% of over 65s
- 20% of 16-24s
- Upper classes: The Guardian, The Times
- Working classes: The Sun, Daily Mirror
- All classes: Daily Mail, Daily Express
7
Describe The Sun
- ‘The Sun Wot Won it’ 1992
- Backed New Lab in 1997, 2001, 2005 - disagreements with John Major over European policy
- Murdoch got Blair to commit to pound - would not take Britain into eurozone without ref
- 2010 election - switches to Cameron - ‘Our Only Hope’
- Built conservative euroscepticism over many years
- EU Ref - ran controversial headline ‘Queen backs Brexit’
- Defamed Jeremy Corbyn and his policies in 2017/2019
3
Describe the Guardian
- Notable online prescence - 18.4m monthly online visits
- Higher AB readership
- Back LD or Lab
9
Describe the Daily Mail
- Avg age - 58
- Middle market tabloid
- 52-55% female readership
- twice as many ABC1 readers as C2DE
- Stephen Lawrence ‘murderers’ headline
- Supported Con every election
- Focus on small boats crisis
- Corbyn team - ‘apologists for terror’
- Owned by DMGT - Rothermere
5
Describe the Times
- Murdoch press empire
- Supported Remain
- Backed New Lab in 2001 and 2005 (not 1997)
- High ABC1 readership, esp among age 25-44
- Backed Rishi Sunak in 2022 leadership elec