University of Surrey Issues in Politics Today ELECTION CAMPAIGNS AND THE MEDIA June 2005

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)

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

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

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 5:5:4 for Con:Lab:Lib

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 Blair’s ‘masochism strategy’ of facing less selected audiences)

6.Timing is critical:  to match deadlines for news organizations  to wrongfoot opponents so that they have difficulty in (re)capturing the initiative

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

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

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

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?