Evaluate the view that the influence of the media in politics is exaggerated; it is not heavily biased and has little power of persuasion.

Question 1

Introduction - Themes

Answer 1

• Impact
• Type
• Other Influences

Question 2

Introduction - Argument

Answer 2

The influence of the media is not exaggerated - it has immese powers of persuasion and massive impact on politics today

Question 3

Impact - Disagree - Point

Answer 3

The media does not have an impact on politics as the outlets tend to be tailored to their readership - meaninging the enforce their proconceived notions rather than perpetuating new ones

Question 4

Impact - Disagree - Examples

Answer 4

• The Guardian endorsed the Labour Party in the 2019 general election - this could be because they have a centre-left readership, and the endorsement of Labour supports this
• The Daily Telegraph is a right-wing newspaper and in 2019 they endorsed the Conservatives

Question 5

Impact - Agree - Point

Answer 5

It is wrong to say that just because they are tailored to a specific readership, they fail to challenge politicians and release new information that has a massive impact

Question 6

Impact - Agree - Examples

Answer 6

• The Daily Telegraph, a right-wing newspaper, released damaging messages from Matt Hancock during his time as Health Secretary
• The Times, a right-wing newspaper, was critical of Boris Johnson’s performance with headlines like ‘ Johnson taught us one valuable lesson: how not to be Prime Minister’

Question 7

Type - Disagree - Point

Answer 7

There are arguments that due to the decline in traditional print media, this has also led to a decline in the power of the media. The limitations place on broadcasting also means that the media has much less influence

Question 8

Type - Disagree - Examples

Answer 8

• Since Covid, the Financial Times experienced a 39% drop, and the Guardian fell by 18%
• Broadcasters are under legal neutrality requirements which means they cannot illustrate bias to one party or another

Question 9

Type - Agree - Point

Answer 9

The decline in traditional print media has led to the increase of other types of media. The growth of social media in recent years has had a profound impact on politics

Question 10

Type - Agree - Examples

Answer 10

• The Conservatives had 2,500 live paid-for adverts in December 2019, while Labour only had 250, the Conservatives went onto steal a huge victory
• During Covid, there was a lot of ‘fake news’ that led people to believe the Covid Vaccinations were harmful

Question 11

Other Influences - Disagree - Point

Answer 11

Due to the outcome of elections, it can be said that other influences besides media are at play when it comes to voter intentions. The media can be critical of certain parties, but they still get significant vote share

Question 12

Other Influences - Disagree - Examples

Answer 12

• The UKIP and Brexit Party were not supported in the media, yet they got a relatively high proportion of the vote share. UKIP were even able to gain a seat after the 2015 general election
• The only newspaper that officially endorsed Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in 2017 was The Mirror, yet he was still able to win 40% of the national vote

Question 13

Other Influences - Agree - Point

Answer 13

There are other influences that have an impact on voters’ decision and perception of an event; however, the media still has a massive impact in swaying the voters who are undecided

Question 14

Other Influences - Agree - Examples

Answer 14

• When the Conservatives won a surprise victory in 1992, The Sun proclaimed ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won it’ after they ran a particularly damaging campaign against Neil Kinnock
• The Daily Star set up a webcame to see if a lettuce would outlast Liz Truss’s premiership, this seemed as though she was almost doomed from the start