University of Surrey Issues in Politics Today

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University of SurreyIssues in Politics Today

• ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AND THE MEDIA
• June 2005

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1. Parties have

• overall strategies for national and local
  campaigns, formed in the light of focus groups,
  opinion poll data, etc.
• target seats and sections of the electorate
• calendar for introducing themes/issues
• budgets for expenditure (some items are very
  expensive)

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2. Aim to dominate the agenda

• with own preferred issues
• disrupting the strategies of opponents
• having monitored public opinion trends and focus
  groups throughout the previous parliament, then
  conducted pre-campaigns for varying periods
  before the election is called

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3. Themes are promoted with

• unveiling of posters (without necessarily using
  many sites or keeping them up for long) for the
  media
• newspaper advertisements (also for fundraising)
• party election broadcasts (no paid advertising on
  TV is allowed), sometimes using major directors
  and adopting shock attack techniques from US
  models, sometimes preceded by softening up and
  followed by press reviews

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4. Party Election Broadcasts (PEBs)

• rules are complicated and not all aspects are
  defined
• Currently PEBs are free to all parties fielding
  candidates in at least 1/6 of the seats in one or
  more of the UK nations
• for the major parties, ratio is roughly
  proportionate to vote in previous election and
  by-elections
• for example, in 1992 it was 554 for ConLabLib

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5. Politicians perform at events intended for
media attention

• photo opportunities in telegenic, usually highly
  controlled situations around the country
• news conferences with ruthless control by minders
• interviews under controlled conditions as far as
  possible
• meetings of activists and sympathisers (but in
  the 2005 campaign, see Blairs masochism
  strategy of facing less selected audiences)

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6. Timing is critical

• to match deadlines for news organizations
• to wrongfoot opponents so that they have
  difficulty in (re)capturing the initiative

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7. Much attention is paid to

• giving the leader an attractive, marketable
  brand-image and personal style, as befits
  increasing presidentialism
• making spokespersons telegenic and well coached
  for interviews and soundbites
• striking the right style and tone for party
  events at which media will be present
• keeping pressure on the media, where possible, to
  maintain fair amount of balanced coverage in
  appropriate slots

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8. Opinion polls are perceived as vital

• as snapshots at a given time (and hence of the
  impact of the most recent campaign issues)
• as indicators of positive or negative trends for
  the parties (and hence of the overall
  effectiveness or otherwise of the campaigns)
• as news in their own right and hence as possible
  influences on electoral behaviour

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9. Media know parties are trying to manipulate
them and may respond

• by colluding to a greater or lesser degree out of
  laziness or sympathy
• by attempting to discern the real issues and to
  place them in perspective for the public
• by focusing on the marketing techniques, the
  spin-doctors, etc., used by the parties and
  taking them as newsworthy in their own right
• by giving the campaign greater or lesser salience
  in relation to other news

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10. Discussion

• Using the most recent general election, find
  three examples of the techniques described and
  discuss them in groups
• Does the use of these types of technique
  encourage cynicism and disaffection among the
  public?