media Flashcards
why does the media have enormous power
Politicians nowadays communicate with voters through the media
vote by newspaper readership
79% of the daily telegraph readers vote conservative
77% of the express readers vote cons
74% daily mail - cons
the sun 59% - cons 30% - lab
daily mirror - 68% lab
guardian 73% - lab
independent 66% - lab
Biased reporting
How does this influence voting behaviour?
The information and opinions newspaper readers are confronted by influence their own opinions of the different parties and politicians. It will therefore also influence who they may vote for.
Could the influence of biased
reporting in newspapers be overstated?
Not all voters read newspapers, and readership is declining.
Most people decide to read/buy a particular newspaper
because they agree with its views and political position. The
biased reporting therefore does not change their views
and voting, but only confirms it.
different ways the media take sides in politics
Broadcast media are by law required to be neutral
Biased daily reporting: comment, analysis, which views
are represented
Endorse a party:
Advise their readers who to vote for (or how to vote, in a
referendum)
Televised debates
what was the reason why Blair won in 1997
One of the reasons why Labour/Blair won in 1997 (and
2001 and 2005) was that he managed to get The Sun to
switch from Conservative to Labour
Other ways media influences politics - televised debates
Televised debates can increase participation, increase interest in politics.
🡪 However, most debate viewers are already interested in politics.
Debate performance can influence voters
🡪 However, most viewers have already made up their mind; the debate simply confirms their choice.
social media
Social media are increasingly important. Buying election campaign advertisement time on television is
banned in the UK. But not online. Recently political parties are
increasingly spending money on advertisements on social media.
Social media advertisement can be much more precisely
targeted at a specific audience than television advertisement.
In 2019 Conservative Facebook ads targeted mostly male voters.
One reason for the
surprisingly good
performance of Corbyn’s
Labour in 2017 was the
production of effective
social media content, and
its distribution by young
supporters
arguments against SM
Social media advertisements can also be misleading. There are also dangers related to the influence of social media.
There is relatively little regulation of social media, and the
misuse of personal data and misleading or even fake
information can have huge impact. BeLeave
Facebook ads were seen 169 million times - misleadin brexit ad that the UK pays £350M to the the EU instead of the NHS
Social media offers political parties many opportunities:
Social media are quickly becoming the main medium voters
use to get information, more so than newspapers or television
It is much less regulated than advertisement on other media;
buying advertising space is not banned, unlike on television
Advertising on social media can more easily and in more
detail be targeted at specific voter groups
However, it can also be difficult to control - BJ fridge gate
Why would social media influence still be relatively limited?
Social media tend to be ‘tribal’ – people tend to follow
people like them; preaching to the converted; people live in
social media ‘bubbles’
The groups most likely to get their information through
social media (the young) are also the least likely to vote, and
those the least likely to be active on social media (the
elderly) are the most likely to vote. - 18-34 yos make up roughly 50% of the UKs twitter users
counter-argument against of influence of the media:
most voters read newspapers/social media they already agree
with; it mostly confirms people’s opinions, not change them
media influence
on government and parties:
Media attention influence on government
Opinion polls influence political parties
Media attention for an issue and media campaign can
influence government policy decisions
However, the government attempts to influence the media
agenda, using its media advisers
In 2020 a campaign by
Marcus Rashford to
expand free school meals
to school holidays got a lot
of positive coverage in the
media. The government
initially refused this, but
eventually gave in to the
pressure.
spin doctors
The government appoints special advisers to help them
manage their image in the media, influence the way the
media talk about the government and what the government
does.
Strategies to influence media:
‘leaking’ popular messages at
the same time
‘leaking’ the bad news to
supportive media first
Release bad news close to
newspaper deadlines
Release bad news during
important events
‘A dead cat’ - do/say something
dramatic to distract attention
from the bad news
The coalition government
announced cuts to
childcare centres in
deprived areas on the day
the royal wedding
between William and Kate
was announced.
One of Blair’s advisers
sent an internal email
saying “it’s now a very
good day to get out
anything we want to
bury” during 9/11.
BJ accused Keir Starmer of not prosecuting jimmy saville during the whole party gate scandal
govt passing laws to restrict media
The government can also pass laws to restrict the media.
Apart from confirming the neutrality
requirement for broadcast media, the
Communications Act 2003 also established
‘Ofcom’, a government organisation that
monitors the media and whether they stick
to the rules. Ofcom has the power to fine or
oven withdraw a media license.
