UK Politics Media Flashcards
Media influence on elections?
Newspapers strongly favour political parties that are about to win - The Conservative Party has won the last 4 elections and has done so with the support of a majority of the press.
TV debates and interviews are key moments in campaigns and are watched by millions of voters.
In 2017, Theresa May refusing to take part in a head on head TV debate with Corbyn made her look weak in the eyes of voters and contributed to her unpopularity.
Parties try to control their media appearance as much as possible during elections, sometimes
avoiding tough interviews and having very stage managed performances and photo opportunities.
This shows that political parties see the influence of the media on election outcomes as potentially
highly significant.
In 2019, Johnson refused to be interviewed by Andrew Neil, fearing the impact a mishap could
have on the campaign.
Influence of media is insignificant ?
Voters don’t simply follow what the media says but form their own opinions - whilst many have strong allegiances to parties and are unlikely to be swayed by anything the media does during elections.
Most voters who are conservative
Consume political views that they agree with.
They make up their own mind and sometimes don;t vote according to the views of the media they consume.
Influence Of The Media Is Significant between elections
The media plays a key role in holding the government to account and exposing its failures between elections:
media was crucial in exposing the Partygate scandal
The media can also be an important vehicle for pressure groups to seek to influence government
policy between elections, through reporting on protests/industrial action and giving pressure group
leaders a public platform they can use to influence public opinion and put public pressure on the
government.
Mick Lynch, Secretary-General of the RMT Union, was effective in criticising the government and
making the case for rail strikes in media appearances, such as on Good Morning Britain
Infleune of the media is significant between elections against
Parliament can be seen as playing a far more important role in holding the government to account than the media eg PMQs
There have been allegations of bias against the BBC from both sides of the political spectrum, with
Laura Kuenssberg in particular being accused of spreading fake news, including a false story about
labour activists pushing a Conservative Party advisor, and benefitting the Conservative Party.
Blair recruited a press secretary, Alastair Campbell, who was the political
editor of the Today newspaper at the time - government influneced the media heavily
Population argueably just doesn’t pay much attention to politics as a whole.
