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is exaggerated-1
-media follows and endorses public opinion as opposed to creating and leading it
-at its core- especially the press, must sell a copy to survive and it tend to print and publish what its readers wish to hear and what the public is interested in at any given time.
-e.g: when the sun switched to support labour in 1997 was because the sun was mirroring general opinion of the public instead of leading it . furthermore, people seek out media that reflects their world-view
-e.g: left-wing people read the daily mail and the sun
-in addition, the sheer breadth of social media now presents a greater diversity of views
-ultimately the media is not biased as voters simply read and follow a media outlet that matches their political beliefs and not one that challenges or seeks to change it
is not exaggerated-1
-voters absorb their political info from the media therefore the media can direct opinion.
-the press, who are free to take a partisan position, often produces propaganda in favour of one party and against another
-e.g: from 2015-19 Jeremy corbyn was portrayed as a far-left ‘marxist’ extremist in the right-wing media
-as time went on, right wing elements of the electorate became increasingly convinced that corbyn was ‘extreme’
-another example was when the daily mail and other newspapers instructed readers to vote conservative to keep corbyn out
-we can conclude that voters can be ‘injected’ with partisan arguments made by the media which can influence politics and are heavily biased
is exaggerated-2
-Although one section of the press promotes one political view there is always a counterview
-e.g: the right wing analysis of the daily mail, the daily telegraph, the sun and the times is countered by the left wing analysis of the guardian and the daily mirror
-if media was highly influential, then in a country in which the right wing media is in the majority, it would be expected that the electorate tilts right . however, this is not the case
-in recent GE, most of the electorate supported left wing parties
-e.g: despite labours’ poor performance in 2019 left-leaning parties still got 54% of the vote
-therefore the influence of the media is exaggerated as it has little power of persuasion
is not exaggerated-2
-Ownership of the press often reflects the political views of their owners.
-e.g: Rupert Murdoch is a free-market, Eurosceptic, neoconservative - and his newspapers such as The Sun reflect his worldview
-Increasingly, The Sun communicates on social media - often reaching a wider target audience than its old newspaper-only model
-As users 'like' content, social media algorithms suggest more content of a similar nature.
-New forms of media such as Twitter create bias
-To illustrate, an internal Twitter review found that the algorithm was 55% more likely to promote tweets from the conservative party than the labour party, reflecting its bias.
- Social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook often amplify the agenda of the press, sharing it with a younger audience
-e.g. younger parts of the electorate may not buy The Sun, but its anti-Corbyn stance spread on social media
-Even though media is evolving in the digital age, it remains persuasive.
is exaggerated-3
-People have stronger influences in their political compass – such as age, class, and region, which often cannot be altered by the media.
-We can see that the press and social media outlets are biased – but despite this– other parties still enjoy success – the left and nationalist parties fare well despite the media not being in their control.
-This is because factors other than the media exert more influence
-e.g: in 2017, age was the leading factor with 66-19% voting labour and conservatives respectively for 18–19-year-olds and for class DE tended to support labour who has a 3-point lead.
-therefore,the power of persuasion of the press is limited when we evaluate the importance of other factors in politics such as age, gender class and region.
is not exaggerated-3
-Recent elections show that the party that handles the media well secures victory at the polls
-If the media attacks a leader or party, it can cause enormous damage and distort the influences that factors such as age and class have on voter influence. It is not only a matter of money, but also about style and how politicians and political parties handle events and challenges.
-media shapes the public 'narrative' around such events and can display a lot of influence on voters
-e.g: in 2019 the widespread negative coverage concerning Jeremy Corbyn's handling of the anti-Semitism crisis in 2019 paired with the media portraying Boris Johnson as a sunny optimist concerning Brexit negotiations and in general positive media coverage.
-Due to the media’s portrayal of leaders in the 2019 election, the 18-19 vote become 56-21 to labour and conservatives respectively and the conservatives dominated labour in the DE class category with a 14-point lead a change of 17%.
-Therefore, we can conclude that the media's portrayal of leaders is influential as it can change how demographics vote and has a lot of power of persuasio
