20130412164339753295_book_an-introduction-to-political-communication
20130412164339753295_book_an-introduction-to-political-communication
20130412164339753295_book_an-introduction-to-political-communication
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THE POLITICAL MEDIA<br />
privacy, let rumours circulate that it had ‘dirt’ on a number of senior politici<strong>an</strong>s<br />
which only discretion <strong>an</strong>d <strong>political</strong> allegi<strong>an</strong>ce prevented it from revealing,<br />
a palpable wave of unease swept through the professional <strong>political</strong> community.<br />
And after the series of sex sc<strong>an</strong>dals which bedevilled the Conservative Party<br />
after 1992, no one c<strong>an</strong> doubt that, regardless of <strong>political</strong> allegi<strong>an</strong>ce, the British<br />
press will not hesitate, out of loyalty alone, <strong>to</strong> embarrass or force out of office<br />
<strong>an</strong>y government minister guilty of sleaze if there are papers <strong>to</strong> be sold. For<br />
m<strong>an</strong>y politici<strong>an</strong>s, this c<strong>an</strong>not be a comforting thought.<br />
THE ORGANISATIONAL NEED FOR NEWS<br />
While the commercialisation of the media may have some unwelcome consequences<br />
for the <strong>political</strong> class, <strong>an</strong>other related trend promises considerable<br />
benefits. Part of the increased competitive pressure under which the<br />
established broadcasters have been placed is the consequence of the exp<strong>an</strong>sion<br />
of media outlets made possible by cable, satellite <strong>an</strong>d digital technologies.<br />
The exp<strong>an</strong>sion has included journalism, in the form of Sky News,<br />
with its 24-hour ‘rolling’ service, <strong>an</strong>d CNN, which is slowly increasing its<br />
reach in Europe <strong>an</strong>d the UK (although it may be <strong>to</strong>o US-focused in its news<br />
agenda ever <strong>to</strong> be a mass news provider in the British market). Partly in<br />
response <strong>to</strong> these new providers of journalism, the BBC has exp<strong>an</strong>ded its<br />
journalistic output, both on television <strong>an</strong>d radio, including a 24-hour rolling<br />
news service on Radio 5, BBC News 24 on television, <strong>an</strong>d a rapidly<br />
developing global television news service. At the same time, as Chapter 1<br />
noted, there has been a rapid <strong>an</strong>d dramatic exp<strong>an</strong>sion in online journalism,<br />
comprising websites operated by major news org<strong>an</strong>isations such as the BBC<br />
<strong>an</strong>d the Guardi<strong>an</strong>, m<strong>an</strong>y net-only news services, <strong>an</strong>d the millions of individual<br />
bloggers <strong>an</strong>d ‘citizen journalists’ (McNair, 2006). All of this me<strong>an</strong>s that<br />
there is <strong>an</strong> increasing dem<strong>an</strong>d for news material, which politici<strong>an</strong>s are<br />
exceptionally well-placed <strong>to</strong> serve.<br />
For a news-hungry media, the <strong>political</strong> arena is the potential source of <strong>an</strong><br />
unending flow of s<strong>to</strong>ries, some of them unwelcome <strong>to</strong> the politici<strong>an</strong>s, as we<br />
have seen, but others attractive in so far as they provide publicity <strong>an</strong>d promotion<br />
for a party, government or leader. This source becomes more<br />
import<strong>an</strong>t as the dem<strong>an</strong>d for news increases. Thus develops a relationship of<br />
mutual interdependence between politici<strong>an</strong>s <strong>an</strong>d journalists, in which each<br />
c<strong>an</strong> benefit the other (Blumler <strong>an</strong>d Gurevitch, 1981). Rodney Tiffen observes<br />
that ‘news is a parasitic institution. It is dependent on the informationgenerating<br />
activities of other institutions’ (1989, p. 51). One researcher<br />
writes of coverage of <strong>political</strong> affairs in Germ<strong>an</strong>y that<br />
approximately two out of every three [news] items are, on the basis<br />
of their respective primary sources . . . the outcome of press releases<br />
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