`Evaluate the view that social media is now more important than traditional forms of media

Introduction

Traditional media = communication channels established before the internet eg. newspapers like The Sun

Paragraph Focus

• Paragraph 1 = Newspapers

• Paragraph 2 = TV and Radio

• Paragraph 3 = Polls

Para 1 = Weaker Argument - Less Significant

• eg. in 2024, more Conservative leaning newspapers such as The Sun or Financial Times turned their support towards Labour in the 2024 elections

• this shows that newspapers can a have a big impact changing people’s opinions and influencing how they vote

• this is because they presents a biased view of politics and a party’s governing competency, encouraging partisan realignment

Para 1 = Stronger Argument - More Significant

• polling by YouGov priori to the 2024 election found that 43% of Britons use social media as a source of news eg. viewing shortened version of PMQs on Tiktok

• this shows that social media are central to how voters consume political information and shape their political views due to it easy accessibility

• this can be seen as important given the rising participation crisis, as social media may have increased engagement and apathy towards politics

• compared to traditional media which is eg. The Sun which is becoming outdated in a modern technological world

• therefore, social media can be seen as more important

Para 2 = Weaker Argument - Less Significant

• eg. bbc largely reported the scandal of kier starmer recieving gifts from Lord Ali

• this shows that traiditonal media outliets can be highly important in holiding governments and politicians to account

Para 2 = Stronger Argument - More Significant

• eg. in January of 2026, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch went viral for listing out a bunch of Labour U-turns in PMQs such as the two child benefit cap or the family farms tax

• this shows how social media allows traditional forms of media to have a wider impact on politics

• this is because they go viral on social media, allowing them to have a wider impact on voters views

• this allows the media to more effectively hold the government to account

Para 3 = Weaker Argument - Less Significant

• eg. in both 2019 and 2024, polling was largely accurate with most polls predicting a sizeable Tory majority in 2019 and a Labour landslide in 2024

• this shows that polls can provide significant data to encourage political engagement

• the turnout is likely to be higher is opinion polls indicate that an election will be close

Para 3 = Stronger Argument - More Significant

• eg. polls predicted Labour and Conservatives would both have 34% of the vote in 2015, in reality Cons had 36.9 and Labour had 30.4

• this shows that opinion polls can often be wrong, as they may over-/underestimate the level of support for parties

• majority of the electorate arguably pay little attention to opinion polling