Discussion of the role of the media on democracy, examples pertain to the UK. Seventh lecture for final year students on the Political Communication option in Bournemouth University

1. Political Communication in
a mediated society
Lecture 7

2. Jon Snow, Conference Sept 2003
We are the way through which the public
are able to demand that politicians
account for themselves. If we don’t pursue
them, investigate them, interrogate them
who will? It is our democratic duty and
our social function.

3. Con MP, Interviewed June 2005
The media have to be our friends, we
must make ourselves media friendly, if not
we are unable to get our message out.
The media should inform society but also
interrogate what we do; the fear is all
they do is entertain and aren't really
interested in serious politics

4. Lab MP, Interviewed June 2005
The media have ways of working, clear
ideas of what will interest their readers
and viewers and we must fit with that. It
is no use just being an MP and expecting
coverage, we must fit their agenda and
their rules; the only leverage we have is
when a story is breaking then we have
power over how its covered, but only for
the first bulletin.

5. Labour MP, Interviewed March 2002
What you've got to understand is that the
national press employ a bunch of bastards
that have no fucking idea about how we
work. They're just out to shaft us, the
leaders the government the whole bloody
system. In my opinion TV journalists
aren't much better neither!

6. Focus Group, March 2003
R. I’m not sure we can trust politicians,
we know they lie, they avoid the hard
questions, they line their own pockets,
I mean why should we?
D. How do we know they do this?
R. We hear it every day don’t we, I read
the Mail and by god they show you
what this government does behind
closed doors

7. Key Considerations
 What do politicians expect/want from the
media
 What is / should be the function of the
media
 What do the public expect from both
politician and media

8. Communicating Politics
 Politics needs access to the public
 Putting government/party arguments over
 Convincing through argument
 Explaining policy
 Informing the public
 Branding / Impression management /
Persuasion???

9. Media function
 The watchdog
 Accountability
 Representation
 The Informer
 Allows public debate
 Unbiased evaluations
 Public service

10. Media Powers
 Sets News Values
 Frames stories
 Sets the Agenda?

11. Media within society
 Market Orientation
 Needs to sell copy/advertising space etc
 Must provide the audience with what they
want
 The Entertainer
 Prime time closed off to politics
 Politics is introduced in an informal way
 Political news is converted into soap opera

12. The Public
 Needs Information
 To be able to make judgements
 Wants power
 Is knowledge power?? What is knowledge??
 Wants representation
 If not by MP by media
 Wants entertaining
 Either by politics or (usually) something else

13. The Mediated Society
 The media provides our window into the
world
 Politicians become entertainers
 News becomes entertaining
 Packaging of news
 Dumbing down
 Information presented in soundbites
 Media talk to their own audiences

14. Audience / Media Bias
 Argued that media and its readers share an
ideology that binds them

15. Press affiliation 1992-2005
1992 1997 2001 2005
Sun Con Lab Lab Lab
Mirror Lab Lab Lab Lab
Star Con Lab Lab Lab
Mail Con Con Ind Con
Express Con Con Lab Con
Telegraph Con Con Con Con
Guardian Lab Lab Lab Lab
Times Con Ind Lab Con
Independent Ind Lab Ind LibDem
FT Lab Lab Lab Lab

16. Circulation v Results
by million readers
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Con Lab
1992
1997
2001
2005

18. The Sun Effect?
 Backed Major totally in 1992
 “if this man is elected, will the last person to
leave the country please turn off the light”
 Talked of celebrities going into exile
 Paul Daniels & Frank Bruno
 Virulently anti-Con by 1997
 Ran celeb stories, ridiculed them
 Supported Lab and ridiculed Con in 2001/5

19. Alternative Views
 Circulation Decline – less effect
 But not that bad:
 Sun 1992: 3.57m; 2001: 3.45m; 2005: 3.23m
 Impact of TV – less credible
 Only 18% rely on press for news
 Similar figure to number reading broadsheets
 Interpersonal communication thesis
 Doris Graber (2001) ‘Processing Politics’ etc.

20. Does the media have an effect
 Who Knows!!
 Hypodermic effect – constant drip
 Framing
 Single perspectives (Sleaze = Malaise)
 Agenda-setting
 Can’t tell you what to think, only what to think about
 “We can’t ignore The Sun, even if we’d like to”
(Interview with Ed Balls, 2000)

21. Thoughts for Seminar
 What is or should be the role of the
media?
 Should the media simply inform?
 Should the media make news
entertaining?
 What do they do, and what is the effect
on politics?