media on politics

1. Voting Behaviour
Impact of the Media
Newspapers
Television
Internet

2. Newspapers

3. Why are newspapers important?
 Circulation
 The Sun – 2.5 million
 Daily Mail – 2 million
 The Telegraph – 578,774
 The Guardian – 215,998
 They are not impartial! They are
privately owned and tend to reflect
the views of the owners.

4. How influential is The Sun?
They supported the Tories in 1992 and they won despite
Labour being favourites – ‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’.
 They moved back to Labour in 1997 and
they won, maintaining power for 13 years.
They backed the Tory‟s in 2010 with
Labour‟s lost it. We know what
happened there!
Is The Sun really that influential or do they simply
know when the time is right to switch allegiance?
Do they influence voters or do they take into
account the views of their readership and adapt?

5. Rupert Murdoch
 Founder of News
Corporation
 World‟s 3rd biggest
media organisation
 They own The Sun,
BSkyB and many,
many others!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_Corporation

7. Newspaper Readership & Social
Class
(The „Tory-graph)– Only 5% of the readership
is from Social Class DE
32% of the readership are from Social Class DE
12% of the readership are from Social Class AB
However, the quality broadsheets tend to be more
balanced a they will lose credibility with their readership
if they are too biased. Their readership tends to be more
educated.

8. Voting by Newspaper
Readership
http://www.ipsos-
mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/poll.aspx?oItemId=
2476&view=wide

9. Daily Mirror
 The turnout for Daily Mirror
readership was 68%.
 16% voted Tory
 59% voted Labour

10. Daily Telegraph
 The turnout for Daily Telegraph
readership was 81%.
 70% voted Tory
 7% voted Labour

11. So, what about The Sun?
 The turnout for readers of the Sun
was 57%.
 43% voted Tory
 28% voted Labour

12. How influential are newspapers
really?
 There are two views about the importance of newspapers: the
Agenda Setting View and the Reinforcement View.
 The Agenda Setting Theory suggests that the media –
especially newspapers – can force certain issues onto the
political agenda (i.e. make the parties discuss them and give
views on them) by having prominent stories or campaigns
about them.
 The Reinforcement Theory says that people are not really
influenced by the paper they read but in fact they choose – or
swap to – a paper which expresses views the reader already
agrees with – i.e. the paper is just „reinforcing‟ already held
views.

13. There are several points to bear in mind when
considering just how important or influential the
press can be:
 1 in 3 voters does not read a national newspaper at all.
 newspaper readers are not loyal – they will switch papers
according to various factors including „scoops‟, price cuts, sport
coverage etc. So is there really such a thing as The Sun
Reader? Between 1992 and 1997, 1 in 3 readers either
swapped papers or stopped reading them altogether.
 Because fewer and fewer people buy a paper, the press are
much more likely to follow the opinion of their readers than to
change it. They need the customers!
 With the growth of multi channel TV including 24 hour news
channels, newspapers are in long term decline and are not the
main source of „political‟ news.
 According to CREST (The Centre for Research into Elections
and Social Trends), “Newspapers have relatively little influence
on the outcome of elections”.

14. How important is Television
in an election?
Party Political Broadcasts
Leadership Debates

15. Key Statistics
 The average person in the UK
watches 22.5 hours of TV each week,
therefore it‟s a platform for political
parties to reach the electorate.
 51% of adults consider television to
be their main source of political
information.

16. PARTY POLITICAL/ ELECTION
BROADCASTS
 Television, unlike newspapers, must be balanced and
impartial giving equal access and coverage to each of
the political parties
HOWEVER
 Approximately, 67% of people surveyed felt that TV
broadcasts had little impact on their decision.
 29% said it was not at all important.
 This is despite it being the most expensive form of
advertising used by political parties.
 In twenty years time, will we still be watching Party
Political Broadcasts as we currently know them?

17. Leadership Debates
In the run up to the 2010 general election there was a
series of three debates between the leaders of the three
main parties: Gordon Brown (Lab); David Cameron (Cons)
and Nick Clegg (Lib Dem).
They were the first such debates to be broadcast live in
the run-up to a UK election.
The first half of each debate focused on a particular theme
(domestic, international and economic affairs), before
general issues were discussed.
The questions were not disclosed to the leaders before the
debate.

18. Did the debates make a
difference?

23. The Internet
It was predicted that the Internet would have a significant
impact on the outcome of the 2010 Election.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/20
10/05/so_was_it_an_internet_election.html
Click on and read the blog above.

26. So how did they use the internet?
 Official Website
 Stealth Sites (Lib Dems set one up a false Party
known as „Labservative‟)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R52pqznRNHY
 Email – regular updates from key Party members.
 Online Fundraising – Lib Dems reportedly raised
£500,000.
 Strategies to direct web traffic – Tories at one point
had a video linked to a search for Gordon Brown on
youtube.
 www.mydavidcameron.com
 Facebook, Twitter and blogging

27. Tasks
Newspapers
1. Why might newspapers be able to influence voting behaviour
in the UK?
2. In what way does political coverage by tabloids and
broadsheets differ?
3. How could „The Sun‟ claim to have had an impact on voting
behaviour?
4. Make a note of newspapers that tend to maintain party
support and those who fluctuate.
5. What evidence is there to suggest a link between social class
and newspaper?
6. Explain the relationship between social class, newspapers and
turnout.

28.  Television
1. What do you think political parties see television as a useful
tool in an election campaign?
2. Television can have a hugely positive impact on voting
behaviour for political parties. Provide arguments for and
against this view.
3. Summarise the influence of the Leadership Debates.
 Internet
1. In what way did political parties utilise the internet?
2. Read the blog on Slide 23.
3. Summarise the impact of the internet on the 2010 General
Election. Was it the Internet Election that people predicted?
Why?