Exam Questions May 2022: Role of the Media in the Outcomes of Elections Flashcards
Give three ways the media may influence the outcome of elections.
1) Simplify complex political issues - e.g. Brexit - those unaware of the nature of EU had to rely on the media to inform their vote - many false claims e.g. £350 million NHS.
2) Emphasise the personality of candidates - e.g. The Sun attacked Neil Kinnock in 1992 by using the headline on the eve of polling day, ‘ If Kinnock Wins Today, Will the Last Person to Leave Britain Please Turn Out the Lights? - means that the presidential nature of the PM is proliferated.
3) Advertising on social media is commonplace - e.g. Labour outspent Con by spending £1.4 million compared to £900,000 - makes rational sense for Labour to spend more - this is where their supporter base is; young people who use social media.
What role did the media play in the 1983 general election?
- Right wing media formed a ‘Maggie cult’
- The Sun ran a scathing campaign against Michael Foot - one headline included ‘ Do You Seriously Want This Old Man to Run Britain?’
- Labour was supported by only 22% of circulated media.
What role did the media play in the 1997 general election?
- Notoriously right wing newspaper, The Sun, switched allegiances to support Blair.
- The traditional Conservative newspapers (Daily Mail, Express and Telegraph) supported Major though they occasionally ran negative stories about them.
- pro-Labour newspapers accounted for 62% of those circulated.
What role did the media play in the 2019 general election?
- Right wing media such as the Sun and Daily Mail remained vehemently Conservative
- Social media adverts were used to full effect - e.g. a banner ad for the Conservatives was viewed 3.5 million times
- Labour outspent the Conservatives in terms of social media adverts - £1.4 million compared to £900,000 - though their support base is largely users of social media - rational choice to spend more here.
What were the other influences on the outcome of the 1983 general election?
- Perfectly executed leadership campaign.
- E.g. ITV documentary ‘The Woman at Number Ten’ - claimed she replaced the Italian paintings for portraits of British Heroes such as Robert Clive and Admiral Nelson - promoting the patriotic credentials created by the Falklands War.
- ‘Rally around the flag’ - e.g. Falklands War.
What were the other influences to the outcome of the 1997 General Election?
- Labour’s manifesto offered a pragmatic and fresher take on classic Conservative policies
- ‘New Labour is a party of ideas and ideals but not of outdated ideology’.
- After 18 years in power, policy failures accumulated - difficult for Con. to promote their policies as fresh - labour’s manifesto capitalised on their weakness.
What were the other influences of the outcome of the 2019 general election?
- Valence issues - ‘Get Brexit Done’ - Conservatives provided a clear direction they would take the policy direction.
- Labour, conversely, were undecided of their opinion of Brexit - Caroline Flint lamented, ‘It was Brexit that cemented Labour’s undoing’.
- Lib Dems were assuredly remain - they saw an increase from 7.4% in 2015 to 11.2% in 2019 - owing to their clarity in policy aims.
Give some examples of the influence of social media on recent elections.
- 2015 Conservatives spent £1.2 million on social media - Labour £16,000
- 2017 - led to a ‘youthquake’ - a rise youth turnout- voted Labour due to its growing online presence.
What was the result of the increased use of Facebook ads by the Lib Dems in 2019?
Little discernible effect - they only secured 11.2% of the vote.
How can social media be said to increase democracy?
Many competing voices articulate their views with limited state control.
Though this may lead to ‘cognitive dissonance’ (people holding inconsistent, opposing beliefs) - essentially factual evidence no longer matters over emotional concerns - continued support for leaders after policy U-turns or misleading claims can be explained with social media’s difficulty in changing minds - it reinforces beliefs.
How could TV debates be said to be ineffective at influencing elections?
They may be dodged by politicians - e.g. May was replaced by Amber Rudd in 2017 and Johnson refused to attend a climate change debate in 2019 (along with Farage) - he was replaced by a melting block of ice.
They both judge the absence to be less harmful than the potential mistakes they could make during debates.
How could TV debates be said to influence the outcome of general elections?
Debates have the tendency to emphasise the personality of the party leader - leading to the rise of presidentialism.
e.g. ‘Cleggmania’ after Nick Clegg appeared to ‘win’ the first leader’s debate in 2010 - led to a 24% increase in support for him - though he only gained 1% in the general election.
Give some evidence for the decline in newspaper readership.
The Sun - peaked in the second half of the 20th century - said to have backed every winner of every recent election - now a mere half a million readership.
