Westminster Tales: The Twenty-first-Century Crisis in Political JournalismA&C Black, 2001 M05 21 - 150 pages Politics today is inextricably bound to the media, indeed it is now a routine assumption that the media can determine election outcomes. Consequently, over the last twenty years, the conduct of politics has become increasingly driven by what might "play well" on television or in the press. Election campaigning, budgets, party platforms, and even the contents of legislative bills are dominated by media considerations.Westminster Tales explores how that relationship works in practice. What sort of deals are done between politicians and journalists? What tactics do politicians use to try and manipulate the media? What are journalists' techniques of resistance? What determines how a campaign is put together? Have policy issues and the national good really been surrendered to image-making and sound-bite tactics?Barnett and Gaber examine the modern process of political communication through the eyes of the many actors now involved. Through their own experiences, and through personal interviews conducted with many of the key media and political figures, they construct a vivid picture of how political communication is managed today and the direction in which it is going. |
Contents
an outline of the argument | 1 |
Public opinion and the impact of political journalism | 11 |
who does what in political journalism | 32 |
a history of control | 48 |
Does ownership matter? | 58 |
The consequences of competition | 79 |
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Common terms and phrases
1997 General Election agenda Alastair Campbell announcements BBC's believe Bernard Ingham briefings Britain British broadcasting broadsheet bulletins campaign cent Channel Four Charlie Whelan commercial television committees competitive Conservative Party current affairs Daily debate decline democracy democratic Downing Street election electorate electronic ensure example favour government's Guardian House of Commons Hugo Young Ibid impact important Independent influence interest interview issues journalists Labour government Labour Party lobby correspondents London major media managers ment Murdoch newspapers operation opinion polls owners ownership papers Parliament parliamentary particular party's Peter Mandelson political communication political correspondents political coverage Political Editor political journalism political journalists political parties political reporting press releases Press Secretary pressure Prime Minister proprietor question radio readers relationship role Rupert Murdoch senior speech spin doctors story Sunday tabloid Thatcher tion Today programme Tony Blair Trevor Kavanagh Westminster Whitehall press officers