4.2 - The Influence of the Media

Question 1

What do all broadcasters have to do in the UK?

Answer 1

All broadcasters in the UK (BBC, ITV, etc) bound by law to remain neutral

Question 2

What does research indicate about the importance of broadcasters?

Answer 2

Research indicates that TV and radio broadcasts are still the main sources of info for voters in UK election campaigns

Question 3

What do broadcasters host in the political scene?

Answer 3

Broadcasters do host national leadership debates which have some influence on voters but limited

Question 4

What do parties use broadcasters for?

Answer 4

Overall parties use broadcasters to put their message across, but expect no special advantage from this type of media

Question 5

Is there regulation on the press media?

Answer 5

Unlike broadcasters there is no press regulation on terms of political bias in the UK and most newspapers are highly politicised and influenced by the ownership of the paper and their readership

Question 6

Is there a significant correlation between newspapers and readership?

Answer 6

• The two largest circulation tabloids, the Sun and the Daily Mail, both support Cons, reflecting the attitudes of the owners of these papers
• This suggests that, at first sight, newspapers do influence the way people vote, but this may be an illusion
• Research suggests that newspapers tend to reflect the typical political views of their readers, rather than lead them
• Likely a two-way process as papers may also reinforce existing political attitudes, but do little to change them

Question 7

Evidence against the importance of newspapers?

Answer 7

Greatest evidence against the importance of the press is that JC’s Labs recieved 40% of the vote despite only one paper (The Mirror) backing it

Question 8

What do parties and govs use social media for?

Answer 8

Parties and gov increasingly use social media to communicate with the public and ‘listen in’ to the voters – but to early to assess its true impact

Question 9

Regulation status of social media?

Answer 9

Unlike broadcasters, social media is unregulated so there are opportunities for any group to gain some political traction – esp useful for smaller parties, though still havn’t been able to make a major breakthrough yet

Question 10

How can social media’s true impact be measured?

Answer 10

Social media’s real impact is in the way it is reported by traditional media – traditional media increasingly report on opinions and issues popularised by social media – these issues then become established in the mainstream media and mainstream political debate

Question 11

Example of social media being exploited?

Answer 11

Publication of reports of Russian interference in UK general elections does indicate that social media provides groups with malicious intent the opportunity to influence UK elections – more apparent with developments such as Cambridge Analytica and ‘fake news’

Question 12

Other potential negative aspects of social media?

Answer 12

Social media is also a ‘political echo chamber’ - those with political views are shown videos of people with those same political views – contributing to false impression of a social media tsunami EG 2019

Question 13

1979 - Key media moment

Answer 13

The Sun issued a headline titles “Crisis, what crisis?” as Jim Callaghan’s reaction to the Winter of Discontent

Question 14

1979 - How the media moment may have influenced the outcome of the election?

Answer 14

Callaghan never actually said crisis what crisis, but it caught public imagination, suggesting he was out of touch with public opinion, thereby swinging opinion against a formerly popular PM

Question 15

1979 - How the media moment may NOT have influenced the outcome of the election?

Answer 15

Polls showed that Callaghan remained personally popular throughout the election and was actually far ahead of Thatcher – he was actually Lab’s biggest asset

Question 16

1997 - Key media moment?

Answer 16

The Sun switching support from Cons to Lab

Question 17

1997 - How the media moment may have influenced the outcome of the election?

Answer 17

The Sun (and most of the rest of the press) publicly switched support to Blair and New Lab, persuading many former Con voters to vote Lab instead

Question 18

1997 - How the media moment may have NOT influenced the election result?

Answer 18

Polls suggested Lab was on course for a large victory anyway – the Sun and the rest of the press were simply reacting to the existing situation

Question 19

2019 - Key media moment?

Answer 19

Facebook advertising

Question 20

2019 - How the key media moment may have influenced the outcome of the election?

Answer 20

At the start of Dec 2019, the Facebook ad library showed the Cons had 2500 live paid-for ads while Lab only had 250 – Cons went on to seal a huge victory over Lab

Question 21

2019 - How the key media moment may have NOT influenced the outcome of the election?

Answer 21

At the same time, the Lib Dems had 3000 paid ads on Facebook, more than the Cons, yet still lost seats

Question 22

What role does the media play between elections? (2)

Answer 22

• The media help to provide a commentary on political events in between elections
• It can also be a forum for public debate and discussion, and act as a bridge between constituents and their elected representatives

Question 23

How has the tabloid press evolved since the 1980s? (2)

Answer 23

• Tabloid press increasingly partisan due to the rise of social media
• Tabloids becoming more focused on scandals and mocking politicians they oppose rather than providing information and informed debate

Question 24

How has the media evolved since the 1980s? (3)

Answer 24

• The media prioritising negative stories over positive ones contributes to a sense of national cynicism towards politics and politicians
• By focusing ever-more on party leaders, the media has turned politicians into celebrities rather than focusing on their abilities and public service – helped make politicians a form of mass entertainment
• The development of 24-hour news has caused media outlets to fill slots with minor issues that shouldn’t be as important as they are made out to be

Question 25

What has the rapid growth of social media led to?

Answer 25

Helped spread political education and awareness, but often at a superficial and less engaged level than traditional media – especially problematic as social media can create echo chambers where people only seek out opinions that match and confirm their existing beliefs

Question 26

Examples of the press influencing politics between elections - Sleaze

Answer 26

Between 92 and 97 the press investigated Con scandals such as ‘cash for questions’ and numerous affairs from MPs – this led to a campaign for the public to go ‘back to basics’ in terms of morality – this associated the Cons with sleaze and damaged them with voters in the build-up to the 1997 election

Question 27

Examples of the press influencing politics between elections - Iraq War

Answer 27

The case for war in Iraq was already controversial, but BBC reporting in 2003 that the case for war had been ‘hyped up’ it became a full-blown scandal – this led to Blair being seen as a liar and a puppet for the USA

Question 28

Examples of the press influencing politics between elections - 2008 MPs expenses scandal

Answer 28

In 2009 the Daily Telegraph published details of expenses claims by MPs that were either wrongfully made or contained inappropriate items such as a duck house – this subjected all MPs to a high level of scrutiny and forced many to resign

Question 29

Examples of the press influencing politics between elections - Judges being ‘enemies of the people’

Answer 29

In Nov 2016 the Daily Mail published a headline claiming three high court judges were ‘enemies of the people’ for ruling that Parliament instead of the PM should trigger article 50 – attack was widely condemned as it politicised and endangered the judiciary

Question 30

Examples of the press influencing politics between elections - Partygate

Answer 30

Throughout Covid in 2020 and 2021 the press investigated the Johnson administration for alleged breaches of lockdown rules by him and various members of his cabinet including hosting various parties, one the night before the funeral of Prince Phillip – this led to Chief Advisor Dominic Cummings being fired, Press Sec Allegra Stratton resigning and Health Sec Matt Hancock resigning as well as a vote of no confidence in Johnson himself which then led to the Truss tenure and the Sunak tenure – arguably the most chaotic 3 years in British political history

Question 31

Evidence that public opinion polling figure affect voting?

Answer 31

In 2015 most opinion polls were predicting close to a dead heat between the two major parties leading to a second hung-parliament – therefore it was widely suggested that a Lab-SNP coalition would be formed – this led to Cons campaigning on this basis hoping for an outright victory

Question 32

Examples of public opinion polls being inaccurate?

Answer 32

• In 2015 the polls overestimated Lab vote and underestimated Con vote – also showed LibDems were doing poorly so COULD have led to voters deserting LibDems and voting for the major parties
• Opinion polls also just as inaccurate in 2017 – most showed a Con lead of 5-12 points, a comfortable P majority – in reality Cons came in barely 2 points ahead of Lab and another hung P was the result

Question 33

Conclusions on public opinion polling?

Answer 33

• That opinion polling can be inaccurate is to be expected
• The polls on the whole were wrong in the 2015 and 2017 generals and 2014 and 2016 referendums on Scottish independence and Brexit
• Though they were right in the 2019 election, they undersold the margin of the Con victory
• Overall there simply isn’t much data available on whether they influenced voting behaviour