the influence of the media Flashcards
what is broadcasting?
television stations, like the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky, it also includes things like TV debates
the parties will use it to get their message across, but they don’t gain any advantage from it
why is broadcasting good?
they have to remain neutral, meaning voters use this as their main source of information
how influential are TV debates? support with evidence
in the 2010 TV debate, Nick Cleggs good performance still lead to a decline in the party’s share of the popular vote, meaning they don’t have a big impact on the outcome of elections
what is the press?
mainly refers to newspapers, and magazines
when has the press influenced party voting?
during the 1992 election, when the conservatives won a surprise victory, The Sun proclaimed ‘ The Sun Wot Won It’, suggesting their campaign against Labour and its leader (Neil Kinnock) is what helped the conservatives secure a majority
how is the press seen as biased?
The Sun: conservatives
Daily Mail: conservatives
The Mirror: Labour
how is social media used by parties during elections?
they use social media as a way to communicate with the public and listening to the public opinion
what kinds of parties use social media more?
smaller parties like Green Party and UKIP who have limited resources
how did The Sun influence the 1979 election? and how might it have not had an impact?
- the headline ‘crisis? what crisis?’ about Jim Callaghans reaction to the winter of discontent, this suggested he was out of touch with public opinion, swinging voters to Thatcher
HOWEVER, polls showed Callaghan remained popular throughout the election, and was far ahead from Thatcher
what happened in 1997 and the Sun? did it really influence voters choice?
they switched support from the conservatives to labour, encouraging voters to vote labour instead
HOWEVER, polls suggested labour was on course for a large victory anyway, the press just reacted to this situation
how influential was the 2010 TV debate?
- Nick Clegg was reported as having won the first leaders’ debate, which raised his profile over David Camerons
HOWEVER, the lib dems only increased their share by 1% and actually lost seats
what did the Daily Mail publish in 2009?
the expenses scandal: MPs’ spending was publicised and one of them bought a duck house
this led to MPs being subjected to scrutiny an many forced to resign
what are opinion polls?
polls that predict the outcome of an election based on a sample of typical voters
when have opinion polls been good and reliable?
the 1945 general election, where the predicted labour win was correct
when have opinion polls been inaccurate?
2015: predicted a Labour-SNP coalition, the outcome was conservatives won
2017: predicted a conservative lead, but the election was a hung parliament
