Influence of the media Flashcards
What was Johnson’s slogan for Brexit?
How did this relate to his approach to dealing with media questions?
‘Get Brexit done’
-This would be his response in order to sidestep risks and realities of Brexit. For example that England’s regions were to grow 13-16% less, e.g that Cornwall were to lose £60m per year that would have previously come from EU funding.
What percent of Conservative ads from 2019 were deemed as false?
Who was this researched by?
-Found that 88% of ads of Tory campaign ads on Facebook deemed by ‘Full Fact’ to be misleading.
What is evidence that social media did play a role in young voters for Labour? (2017)
- Said 48 hours before Conservative Social Media videos were viewed half as much as Labour videos of the same nature.
- Labour’s dig at Tory’s ‘Dementia Tax’ was viewed in over 200 constituencies, whereas Conservative anti-corbyn adverts were only viewed in 100.
-55% of 18 to 29 year olds vote for Labour, social media plays a big part in choice in young people, supported by the fact 1/3 young voters changed their vote based on something they had seen on Twitter.
What three case studies should you use for influence of the media?
- 1979
- 1997
- 2019
What happened with voter support for Labour leading up to the 1979 election?
What was inflation in 1979?
- The Winter of Discontent made many voters disillusioned with the Labour Party.
- Bodies piled up and bins uncollected due to mass strikes across the country.
- Callaghan had hoped that his wage policies would speak for themselves and provide support for his party. His policies did not meet expectation and pushed industry unrest over the edge. He lost support from both the public and trade unions, opened door for a Conservative government.
- Inflation was 13%, very negatively affected the lives of many citizens in the UK.
How did media play a big role in the 1979 election?
- Saatchi and Saatchi ‘Labour isn’t working’ campaign fuelled a pre-existing sentiment against the Labour Party.
- Crisis, What Crisis?’ headline from the Sun highlighted the idea that PM James Callaghan was out of touch with with hardship of the economic environment and his policies.
- Thatcher presented as soft and determined to provide for her country, presented on television as a soft spoken leader, used to divert attention away from her hard-line policies. Appealed to traditional Labour voters as the ‘housewife’s friend’, appealed to working class women and families.
- Also presented as a populist with her tasting tea and holding a newborn calf.
How did the media play a big role in 1997?
- ‘It was the Sun wot won it’, traditionally conservative papers switched support to Labour and aided in their mass majority result.
- ‘Sun Backs Blair’, half of sun readers voted Labour.
- Biggest rise in Labour voters came from The Sun readers, whereas the biggest fall in Conservative voters came from The Times readers.
- Persuasion of Murdoch to support Labour.
- Although the times did not actively back either party, they were more lenient and supportive towards Labour.
How could it be argued that the media did not have a big role in influencing the outcome of the 1997 general election?
- Incumbent major was seen as weak and grey. Following 18 years of Conservative leadership it was natural for the public to want change, especially following the hardline nature of Thatcher.
- Alistair Campbell’s role as a ‘Spin Doctor’ meant that the media could be controlled and manipulated for the gain of the Labour government. members of the Labour Party were all brought in line with the government’s perceived agenda.
- Blair was seen as a charismatic leader and new blood in politics, his re-branding of Labour didn’t follow the traditional line of Labour, but more reflected the views and attitudes of the time following the thatcher government.
- Major’s government in reality imploded in on itself, he lost his majority and relied on the UUP. He had lost the support of his party.
How did the media not play a role in 2019?
- Following the Brexit referendum many voters chose their party based on what seemed the most appropriate means to deal with Brexit, for example in 2019 70% of leave seats were won by the Tories (294 seats).
- Of those who voted Conservatives, Brexit was the most important issue (Lord Ashcroft Polls).
- Social media success did not translate into electoral success, eg Corbyn had 3.9 million followers compared to Johnson’s 2.2 million followers.
- Conservatives spent less on social media adverts according to ‘Who Targets Me’.
How did the media play a role in influencing the 2019 election result?
- Conservatives rebranded as FactCheckUK
- Conservative issued over 25,000 FaceBook ads from Oct to Dec
- Cons spent the most on google ads, over £200k
- 1/3 of 18-34 year olds changed their vote based on information from Twitter.
What is the boomerang effect?
What is the Bandwagon effect?
- Boomerang effect: If a party is trailing in the polls, either people will switch to it or supporters of the leading party won’t bother to vote because they think their party has already won
- Bandwagon effect: Polls showing a party leading before an election can have an influence on how people actually vote. This is called the Bandwagon Effect, when people vote for the party they believe is going to win.
What is an example of safe seats having influence on tactical voting?
When it became evident Michael Portillo could lose his safe seat in 1997, waving voters and those opposed to Portilio instead elected Stepen Twigg.
What are some examples of opinion polls wrongly predicting the outcome of a GE?
- The 1992 election, in which Labour was predicted to win by 1.3% but the Conservatives won by 7.6%
- The 2015, election in which a tie was predicted, the Conservatives won by 6%,
