4.2 the influence of the media

Question 1

What is the oldest form of media?

Answer 1

newspaper press

Question 2

How many people watched the first leaders debates in the 2010 election campaign?

Answer 2

9.6 million

Question 3

How many people watched the first leaders debates on ITV in the 2015 election campaign?

Answer 3

7 million

Question 4

How many people watched the opposition party leaders (conservative + labour) debates on the BBC in the 2015 election campaign?

Answer 4

4 million

Question 5

How many people watched the leaders debate on the BBC in 2017?

Answer 5

3.5 million

Question 6

What is the most read national newspaper?

Answer 6

The Sun

Question 7

How many people roughly read the sun daily?

Answer 7

2,254,267

Question 8

What do opinion polls aim to do?

Answer 8

gauge the popularity of political parties by asking a sample of people how they intend to vote

Question 9

What didn’t opinion polls predict in 1992?

Answer 9

John Majors 21-seat majority

Question 10

What is YouGov currently predicting for the following general election in opinion polls?

Answer 10

Conservative - 20%
Labour - 45%

Question 11

What is BMG currently predicting for the following general election in opinion polls?

Answer 11

Conservative - 25%
Labour - 43%

Question 12

Why were opinion polls incorrect in the 2015 general election?

Answer 12

did not survey a representative selection of the nations voters e.g. did not question enough retired people who are more likely to be Conservative supporters and interviewed to many politically engaged young people who were more likely to vote Labour

Question 13

How many households had internet access in 2000?

Answer 13

26%

Question 14

How many households had internet access in 2010?

Answer 14

82%

Question 15

How much did the Conservatives spend per month on Facebook advertising in the 2015 general election?

Answer 15

£100,000

Question 16

What percentage of 18-24 year olds relied almost totally on online sources to inform themselves on the eve of the 2015 election?

Answer 16

79%

Question 17

Who was Tony Blair’s press secretary and why was he recruited?

Answer 17

Alastair Campbell, to cope with the arrival of 24-hour news in the 1990s

Question 18

What did the inquiry held after the 2011 phone hacking scandal lead to?

Answer 18

• the creation of a new body to regulate the press more effectively, the Independent Press Standards Organisation, headed by a retired judge

Question 18

What was the real reason Kenneth Clarke (member of David Camerons coalition cabinet) was taken off the BBC’s Question Time panel by the number 10 press panel?

Answer 18

Number 10 preferred to have a spokesman who could be relied on to toe the agreed government line and Clarke was independent minded

Question 18

What was the 2011 phone hacking scandal?

Answer 18

• revealed that employees of Rupert Murdoch’s News International had been involved in illegal information gathering, reduced public trust in the press

Question 18

How do popular newspapers tend to present political issues and why?

Answer 18

• tend to present unduly simplified interpretation of political issues focusing excessively on personalities
• newspaper owners are primarily interested in boosting their circulation figures

Question 19

What did the 2011 phone hacking scandal lead to?

Answer 19

• led to the closure of the newspaper involved (News of the World)
• an inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press headed by a senior judicial figure, Lord Justice Leveson

Question 20

What parties has the sun supported and when?

Answer 20

1964 - started as Labour supporting
mid-1970s - Conservatives, owner liked Thatcher’s hard-line approach to the trade unions as it was in line with his business interests
1997 - Labour
2010 - Conservatives

Question 21

What was the Sun’s headline after the 1992 election?

Answer 21

It’s The Sun wot won it

Question 22

What newspapers do people often read?

Answer 22

ones that broadly reflect their outlook

Question 23

What was the only major popular national daily that still backed Labour in 2010 and 2015?

Answer 23

Daily Mirror

Question 24

How many respondents said that television was the strongest influence in helping them form an opinion in a survey done in the run up to the 2015 election?

Answer 24

62%

Question 25

How many respondents said that newspapers was the strongest influence in helping them form an opinion in a survey done in the run up to the 2015 election?

Answer 25

25%

Question 26

What may have prevented Corbyn from becoming established with the wider public?

Answer 26

the relentlessly negative coverage since his election as Labour leader in Sept 2015, which centred on his personality and appearance as on his policies