Creation of Political News: Television and British Party Political Conferences - Softcover

Stanyer, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1902210778 ISBN 13: 9781902210773

Publisher: Liverpool University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Television news remains one of the most important sources of political information for British electorate. Political parties use the TV media to get their messages across. The annual conferences of the main political parties are now a well-established publicity opportunity designed with a national television audience of millions in mind. This book examines the way in which publicity conscious elites systematically manage conference proceedings and the broadcasters to ensure that their party and policies are portrayed in the best possible light. It outlines the planning of media operations and the implementation of news management techniques employed by party spin-doctors. The book provides an important analysis of the attitudes of news media professionals toward such a stage-managed event, in an increasingly competitive news environment. These professionals are driven by a need to maximize audiences and look for more newsworthy occurrences than the main events on stage. While not neglecting their duties in a regulated broadcast environment, they are wise to and cynical of party publicity gambits, and recognize that they are drawn into intra-party conflict and feuding both in the main arena and on the conference fringe. This book gives a unique insight into what effectively is a publicity game, in which each party and the broadcasters seek to pursue differing but overlapping goals. While both want coverage to attract audiences, there is a growing distrust of each other's motives. The parties feel that they increasingly have to direct coverage in order to get their message across. Broadcasters, with the viewer in mind, increasingly want to break out of such a management straitjacket and open their audiences' eyes to what they see as the 'true' conference story.

About this title

About the Author

James Stanyer is Lecturer at the Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester. He received his doctorate from the London School of Economics and Political Science and has published on British political parties and the mass media.

Review

“Detailed case studies provide a welcome documentation of ground-level practice and bring out the complexities of current media-political relations in a way that more generalised polemical pieces often fail to do.”  —Parliamentary Affairs

“An excellent introduction to journalism and political spin in contemporary British politics.”  —Media, Culture & Society

“Well researched and highly readable, it will be of great interest to media and political communicaton specialists.”  —Party Politics

About this edition

• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1902210778
• ISBN 13: 9781902210773
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 206