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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Politics > Influence of the Media
Media Impact
- To many, the media is their only source of information on political issues
- Broadcasting media must be politically neutral
- Broadcaster don’t report from 0600-close of poll on day of election
- Surveys show up to 2/3 people believe Party Political broadcasts affect voting behaviour
- Publicity, e.g. number of times a leader appears on television, can influence voters
- Parties can complain about bias on television
- TV can boost image without making any difference to the election
- e.g. Kinnock had better TV image in 92, Major still won
- 52% saw hardly any coverage before the 2001 election, BBC reviewed coverage amid fears it would be “dumbing down”.
- TV covers House of Commons, Welsh Assembly and Holyrood, but how many watch?
- In recent elections, newspapers thought to have had a strong influence
- Press given credit for winning the 92 election for the Tories
- 60% of newspapers backed Labour in 97
- In 2001, Sun, Express, Mirror, Guardian, Daily Record all backed Labour.
Daily Mail, Telegraph - Tories
Independent - Lib Dem
- Press use headline campaigns for or against politicians or issues
- In 2001, press coverage reflected “presidential campaign” I.e. centred around personalities rather than parties or issues
- Influence of spin doctors e.g. Peter Mandelson
- can backfire e.g. 9/11 being “a good day to bury bad news”
- Labour dropping internet pop-up campaign after suggestions it backfired in the US election
- Influence of media/internet revolution may have an effect on politics
- difficult to regulate output
- difficult to maintain political neutrality
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