Voting Behaviour and the Media Notes
4.2 The in uence of the media
• The nature of media is changing in policies - increasingly people are accessing news online and
social media is increasingly being used to disseminate information, opinions and propaganda.
• The main issue with this is that it is becoming di cult to distinguish between fact and ction
with some calling it the ‘post-truth era’
• The spread of unsustained facts and sometimes deception is thought to have in uenced both
the EU referendum campaign in 2016 and the 2016 US presidential election.
Broadcasting
• The term broadcast media = all television stations such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky and
radio news.
• All broadcasters are bound by law to remain neutral and o er balanced reporting of elections
and referendum campaigns
• This means they have no international in uence on voting behaviour - although the BBC has
often been accused of a liberal/left-wing bias but nothing has been proven or sustained.
• TV and radio remain the main source of information for voters in the UK so it is just as well it is a
legal requirement to obtain neutrality
• However, televised news debates have now become a common feature of elections. The BBC,
ITV, Sky and Channel 4 all hold leadership debates and do so under scrupulous (careful)
conditions overseen by the electoral commission.
• It is not clear, however, that these have any e ect on the election turnout e.g. Clegg’s excellent
performance in 2010 led to ‘cleggmania’ yet had no real outcome on the vote with the Lib Dems
share of the vote declining.
• In the 2015 BBC debate, Cameron did not take part and polls suggested Miliband narrowly won
even over hugely respected Nichola Sturgeon - however - Miliband's poor standing in
leadership polling did not change as Labour lost an election they were thinking they’d win.
- Declining viewers for TV debates
- 2010 = 9.6 million
- 2015 = 7 million
- 2017 = 3.5 million
Conc: Parties use TV and Radio to get their message across but do not expect to get any
special advantage from it.
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, The Press
• Includes physical or online newspapers, magazines and (periodicals - but they are seen as more
reviews than setting the debate and agenda in a way daily newspapers do).
• Following the 1992 election with the conservatives winning a surprise victory - the Sun claimed
‘was the sun wot won it’ after they ran a relentless campaign against Labour and Niel Kinnock
• Whether or not the press had changed peoples minds (after the polls initially showed labour
being favoured and then a turnaround to Major nearer election date) is to be disputed.
• Unlike TV and Radio there is no regulation against bias meaning newspapers are highly
politicised, in uenced in part by the ownership of newspapers but mostly by the beliefs of their
readers
• The two largest newspapers in circulation are the Sun and Daily Mail, both of which support the
conservatives - re ecting the attitudes of those papers
- The Sun is the most read newspaper
- 1997 = 3.9 million
- 2010 = 3 million
- 2016 = 1.8 million
- 2019 = 1.4 million
• The average age of newspaper readers is 65+ —> 45-50% daily mail readers are 65+
• At rst sight you could say newspapers in uence the way people vote, but this could be an
illusion as although large sections of the public do believe in press in uence, research shows
not.
• Research shows that newspapers re ect the typical views of their readers - rather than leading
them. This is likely to therefore be a two-way process as the papers may also reinforce existing
political attitudes but there is no strong evidence suggesting they can change them
• Rupert Murdoch (owner of The Sun) admitted newspapers don’t swing votes in the Leveson
Inquiry 2012 but rather merely re ect reader opinions.
• The greatest evidence against the importance of the press was that in 2017 - Jeremy corbyn’s
labour party received 40% national vote despite only having the Mirror supporting them.
Conc: The press rea rms the political attitudes of its readers, and doesn’t in uence or
sway voting patterns according to research.
Social Media
• Parties increasingly use social media to communicate with the public and ‘listen in’ on public
opinion, but it is too late to assess its in uence.
• It is an open medium, unlike the press and broadcast media, and is more di cult for one party
or political group to gain any special advantage, although there does seem to be the case that
those with access to large resources (online ads and Twitter bots) can in uence the outcome.
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, • Unlike the board casters, the web is unregulated so there are opportunities for any groups to
gain traction - especially useful for small parties UKIP and Greens who do not have membership
and national organisation although this has not yet led to any breakthroughs in electoral success
• The real impact of social media lies in the way it is reported by more mainstream, traditional
outlets —> increasingly broadcast media and press media reports on debates and issues
raised by social media which are subject to less scrutiny and accountability.
• Due to traditional media reporting on social media - those ideas become established in
mainstream debate and help in uence political opinions and choices
• This is a new phenomenon but the report on Russian interference during EU referendum and UK
GE’s seems to indicate that social media provides a platform that groups with vested interests
can use to in uence political debate.
• This has led to issues such as ‘fake news’ with the assumption that any news a person doesn’t
agree with or support must be fake - this has possibly caused harm to the legitimacy of the
political and media system
• It has also encouraged others to avoid health measures and vaccines due to the stimulation of
opinions and fake information that highlights dangers for democracy and politics.
Does the media in uence the outcome of elections?
Election Media Moment How it may have in uenced the How it may not have
election in uenced the outcome
1979 The sun issued a Callaghan never actually said this but Polls showed that Callaghan
headline saying it caught the public imagination remained personably popular
‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ suggesting he was out of touch with throughout the election and
Which was James public opinion, thereby swinging that he was far ahead of
Callaghans reaction opinion against the formerly popular thatcher - he was actually
to the winter of PM. Labours biggest asset.
discontent.
1997 The sun switched The Sun and most of the press Polls suggested Labour were
support from publicly switched sides to support ahead anyway (mainly down
conservatives to Blair and New Labour persuading to Major and the new fresh
labour. many former conservative voters to face of labour) so the Sun
vote Labour instead simply reacted to the existing
situation.
2010 The rst televised The leader of Lib Dems reported as Lib Dems only increased their
debate won by Nick having won the debate raising his vote share by 1% nationally
Clegg pro le at the expense of Cameron and actually lost seats,
which possibly cost the conservatives suggesting any impact from
the votes needed for an outright the debate was at best limited.
majority.
Social media whirlwind - cleggmania
2015 The televised leaders Ed Miliband dell o the stage and Opinion polls suggested the
debate gave an over-excited ‘hell yes, I’m debate made no real
tough enough’ response to a question di erence to voting intentions,
making him appear less prime merely con rmed current
ministerial than Cameron. intentions.
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4.2 The in uence of the media
• The nature of media is changing in policies - increasingly people are accessing news online and
social media is increasingly being used to disseminate information, opinions and propaganda.
• The main issue with this is that it is becoming di cult to distinguish between fact and ction
with some calling it the ‘post-truth era’
• The spread of unsustained facts and sometimes deception is thought to have in uenced both
the EU referendum campaign in 2016 and the 2016 US presidential election.
Broadcasting
• The term broadcast media = all television stations such as BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky and
radio news.
• All broadcasters are bound by law to remain neutral and o er balanced reporting of elections
and referendum campaigns
• This means they have no international in uence on voting behaviour - although the BBC has
often been accused of a liberal/left-wing bias but nothing has been proven or sustained.
• TV and radio remain the main source of information for voters in the UK so it is just as well it is a
legal requirement to obtain neutrality
• However, televised news debates have now become a common feature of elections. The BBC,
ITV, Sky and Channel 4 all hold leadership debates and do so under scrupulous (careful)
conditions overseen by the electoral commission.
• It is not clear, however, that these have any e ect on the election turnout e.g. Clegg’s excellent
performance in 2010 led to ‘cleggmania’ yet had no real outcome on the vote with the Lib Dems
share of the vote declining.
• In the 2015 BBC debate, Cameron did not take part and polls suggested Miliband narrowly won
even over hugely respected Nichola Sturgeon - however - Miliband's poor standing in
leadership polling did not change as Labour lost an election they were thinking they’d win.
- Declining viewers for TV debates
- 2010 = 9.6 million
- 2015 = 7 million
- 2017 = 3.5 million
Conc: Parties use TV and Radio to get their message across but do not expect to get any
special advantage from it.
fl fl ff ffi ff fl fi
, The Press
• Includes physical or online newspapers, magazines and (periodicals - but they are seen as more
reviews than setting the debate and agenda in a way daily newspapers do).
• Following the 1992 election with the conservatives winning a surprise victory - the Sun claimed
‘was the sun wot won it’ after they ran a relentless campaign against Labour and Niel Kinnock
• Whether or not the press had changed peoples minds (after the polls initially showed labour
being favoured and then a turnaround to Major nearer election date) is to be disputed.
• Unlike TV and Radio there is no regulation against bias meaning newspapers are highly
politicised, in uenced in part by the ownership of newspapers but mostly by the beliefs of their
readers
• The two largest newspapers in circulation are the Sun and Daily Mail, both of which support the
conservatives - re ecting the attitudes of those papers
- The Sun is the most read newspaper
- 1997 = 3.9 million
- 2010 = 3 million
- 2016 = 1.8 million
- 2019 = 1.4 million
• The average age of newspaper readers is 65+ —> 45-50% daily mail readers are 65+
• At rst sight you could say newspapers in uence the way people vote, but this could be an
illusion as although large sections of the public do believe in press in uence, research shows
not.
• Research shows that newspapers re ect the typical views of their readers - rather than leading
them. This is likely to therefore be a two-way process as the papers may also reinforce existing
political attitudes but there is no strong evidence suggesting they can change them
• Rupert Murdoch (owner of The Sun) admitted newspapers don’t swing votes in the Leveson
Inquiry 2012 but rather merely re ect reader opinions.
• The greatest evidence against the importance of the press was that in 2017 - Jeremy corbyn’s
labour party received 40% national vote despite only having the Mirror supporting them.
Conc: The press rea rms the political attitudes of its readers, and doesn’t in uence or
sway voting patterns according to research.
Social Media
• Parties increasingly use social media to communicate with the public and ‘listen in’ on public
opinion, but it is too late to assess its in uence.
• It is an open medium, unlike the press and broadcast media, and is more di cult for one party
or political group to gain any special advantage, although there does seem to be the case that
those with access to large resources (online ads and Twitter bots) can in uence the outcome.
fi fl fl ffi fl fl fl fl fl fl ffi fl
, • Unlike the board casters, the web is unregulated so there are opportunities for any groups to
gain traction - especially useful for small parties UKIP and Greens who do not have membership
and national organisation although this has not yet led to any breakthroughs in electoral success
• The real impact of social media lies in the way it is reported by more mainstream, traditional
outlets —> increasingly broadcast media and press media reports on debates and issues
raised by social media which are subject to less scrutiny and accountability.
• Due to traditional media reporting on social media - those ideas become established in
mainstream debate and help in uence political opinions and choices
• This is a new phenomenon but the report on Russian interference during EU referendum and UK
GE’s seems to indicate that social media provides a platform that groups with vested interests
can use to in uence political debate.
• This has led to issues such as ‘fake news’ with the assumption that any news a person doesn’t
agree with or support must be fake - this has possibly caused harm to the legitimacy of the
political and media system
• It has also encouraged others to avoid health measures and vaccines due to the stimulation of
opinions and fake information that highlights dangers for democracy and politics.
Does the media in uence the outcome of elections?
Election Media Moment How it may have in uenced the How it may not have
election in uenced the outcome
1979 The sun issued a Callaghan never actually said this but Polls showed that Callaghan
headline saying it caught the public imagination remained personably popular
‘Crisis? What Crisis?’ suggesting he was out of touch with throughout the election and
Which was James public opinion, thereby swinging that he was far ahead of
Callaghans reaction opinion against the formerly popular thatcher - he was actually
to the winter of PM. Labours biggest asset.
discontent.
1997 The sun switched The Sun and most of the press Polls suggested Labour were
support from publicly switched sides to support ahead anyway (mainly down
conservatives to Blair and New Labour persuading to Major and the new fresh
labour. many former conservative voters to face of labour) so the Sun
vote Labour instead simply reacted to the existing
situation.
2010 The rst televised The leader of Lib Dems reported as Lib Dems only increased their
debate won by Nick having won the debate raising his vote share by 1% nationally
Clegg pro le at the expense of Cameron and actually lost seats,
which possibly cost the conservatives suggesting any impact from
the votes needed for an outright the debate was at best limited.
majority.
Social media whirlwind - cleggmania
2015 The televised leaders Ed Miliband dell o the stage and Opinion polls suggested the
debate gave an over-excited ‘hell yes, I’m debate made no real
tough enough’ response to a question di erence to voting intentions,
making him appear less prime merely con rmed current
ministerial than Cameron. intentions.
ffflfifi
fi fl ff fl fl fl
