UK - Media Flashcards
Introduction
Modern media is divided into old media of TV, radio and newspapers aligned against new media of social media sites and the internet.
The influence of both on elections is a matter of debate.
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Newspapers
Newspapers have long been the standard bearers for delivering political news and often claim to carry politicians to victory or put the final nail in the coffin of their careers.
In their heyday, The Times, Sun, Mirror, Daily Mail and others were found in every house in the UK and as such the views of their owners, editors and writers may well have swayed voters final decisions.
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The Sun newspaper, Britian’s biggest selling tabloid has always claimed credit for backing the winner of elections.
In 2010 and 2015 they backed the conservatives and they won allowing the sun to claim a part in their victory.
Similarly they successfully backed the SNP in the Scottish election of 2011.
However, in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections the Scottish Sun strongly backed labour and actively encouraged readers to vote against the SNP. The SNP won despite this and formed the government. So clearly, on this occasion the media has limited influence on voters.
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TV
In the 2010 election campaign TV debates were held for the first time.
The three main candidates for Prime Minister fielded questions over three live TV debates which attracted over 10 million viewers at times.
Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, performed well and the catchphrase ‘I agree with Nick’ became popular for some time suggesting this would have a positive influence on the party.
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However the results of the 2010 election showed that the Lib Dems only increased their vote by 1%.
Therefore, it seems that TV coverage only gives a temporary bump up or down but is not the deciding factor for voters.
It is believed that Gordon Brown’s already struggling campaign was finished off by his SKY News gaffe over Bigotgate. In this case the media coverage compounded over other problems he was undergoing.
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Social Media
Social media is now touted as crucial for winning votes, particularly from young voters.
During the 2010 General election only 65 mp’s were on twitter but by 2015 all 650 MP’s were using the medium to get their message across.
This clearly suggests that the politicians believe in the power of social media to get more votes.
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In 2007 and 2011 the SNP were recognised as being the most adept party in their use of the medium garnering support and publicity among their many young followers in particular. And the SNP won other elections again suggesting that their successful use of social media was a factor.
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However ‘followers’ does not always translate into voters and the young are not as likely to vote as other groups.
This was seen during the 2015 independence campaign and the SNP seemed to be way ahead of their rivals. The No Campaign won however, confirming belief that social media may be significant but it is not that effective just yet at influencing voters enough to actually make them to go and vote.
Conclusion
Overall, it is clear that the media is a significant player in elections, notably close ones, and will undoubtedly be a factor in some voters decisions.
However, their influence is changing and may be over exaggerated by many.
