The Portrayal of British Politicians in the UK Media - Report Example

THE PORTRAYAL OF BRITISH POLITICIANS IN THE UK MEDIA By Location The British public is provided with a complete coverage of political events and issues with daily ‘broadsheets, several tabloids that have a huge circulation in London, an evening newspaper, and broadcasting networks that include the BBC. The big number of media in Britain implies that political news is told in different versions and submitted to various interpretations. The media portrays various issues from a position they feel suits politicians. Many headlines I the local dailies cover political and politicians’ news. On a daily basis, the media feeds the public on political issues (Wolfsfeld 2011). The media portrays British politicians as leaders. The utterances made by politicians carries weight and is something worth reporting. Many politicians represent the wishes of a particular group of people. Politicians contest for various political offices. When they win those seats, they become leaders of a given constituent. The media sees the voice of politicians as the voice of the people. A political leader is anyone who has undertaken the responsibility of governing a city, region, state, or even a nation (Axford & Huggins 2001). History has endowed Britain with a plethora of leaders who dedicated their energy and lives to the betterment of the people and the country. Political leaders not only govern the people during peace times, but also during crisis times. Political leaders are responsible for devising and implementing policies and strategies meant to serve the interests of their people. The UK media enjoy much more freedom than most media around the world. The media have the freedom to depict politicians from any angle it feels. Many politicians would want to be constantly in the news in order to endear themselves to the electorate and capture their attention. The media portrays politicians as attention seekers. During the elections, politicians will do anything in their possession to be hugely featured by the media. The media have a very big influence in any society. Politicians would seek endorsement from media houses in order to win various seats. In 2010 General Elections, the Conservatives managed to gain some newspaper endorsements, though they failed to have an outright win. Although there is an agreement that newspaper endorsements do not matter so much, they still remain a force in determining the political outlooks of readers. The 1992 general election Sun’s claim that ‘It’s the Sun Wot Won it’ is broadly known. In many elections since 1918, newspapers have claimed that they contributed in swinging the result. The media supremacy case in politics is not yet proven, and it remains to be seen if newspapers play a critical role in how people vote. The media view politicians as people who know how to collect the rewards earned by others. A good example of the process is collection of tax. Politicians are people who feed at the trough of the public and compel working people, by tax collectors, to offer their earnings to them. Political office holders are called incumbents. Incumbere is a Latin word meaning to lean on something or someone. In the early world, politicians were leaning on the arm as they lay on a chaise while eating with the other hand. It is still the case. Politicians lean on the people for a living as they travel, eat, drink, parade, party, and talk. Politicians are convinced that the entire world revolves around them (Science Daily 2013). Politicians do not want to meet with the voters; for fear that the electorate may ask them to be accountable. Politicians also refer to themselves as “honourable” this and that. While it is not wrong to call politicians honourable, the media feels that politicians need to do more in order to qualify to be referred to as ‘honourable’. There is a concern that the existing bias that faces women in politics is because of the media simply using traditional frames anchored on the dominance of men over women, something that makes it possible for women to be portrayed as outsiders in politics (Mackay 2004). The brand new culture existing in politics seems not to offer a substitute frame for women. The celebrity attention given to female politicians is a constant reminder of their unique choices as women and odd position in politics. The unchallenging position for women is that the territory of politics permits for spouse’s support in politics. The wife needs the support of man to join politics, and vice-versa. In the past, the media coverage of women in politics was very limited. Even though stereotypes and sexism are less evident today, they still coalesce with media to craft barriers for female political leaders. Media exposure is in many cases irrelevant and belittling because television newscast and newspapers focus on attire and appearance, rather than a candidate’s attitudes about various issues. Different forms of media are building the connection between politics and female much difficult when they prefer style over substance (Jalalzai 2006). The media refer to female politicians as either "hot" or "not hot". Female politicians are placed in one of the categories, and all crucial aspects are forgotten. Their beliefs, values, and experiences are overlooked by the media. Male dominance is the main feature many people connect with politicians. Politicians can also be the model of the society. People look for politicians for direction. The UK media fraternity views politicians as people who have made it in the society. The business of convincing people to vote for is not very easy. One has to be convincing in order for people to vote for him/her. The media depict politicians as celebrities since they command respect from many people. The media uses a large section of their airtime to talk about politicians. It simply implies that news and stories concerning politicians are very important and carry much weight. In order for a politician to reach celebrity status, he/she must augur well with the people. The politician must appear to work on the stuff that is of interest to the people who elected him/her. On some occasions, the media has appeared to endorse some politicians. The US media just like the UK media, portray politicians in almost the same manner. The US, however, sees politicians as partners of development and people who play a critical part towards full democracy. The media work hand in hand with politicians to realize development for the people. In the U.S, politicians have enacted laws to guarantee freedom of the media (Watts 2003). The U.S media depicts politicians as friends. In some instances, however, the media have condemned them for what they call self-centeredness of politicians. There have been occasions when politicians have passed laws that only favour them. References Axford, B & Huggins, R 2001, New media and politics, London Thousand Oaks, Calif. Jalalzai, F 2006, Women Candidates and the Media: 1992‐2000 Elections. Politics & Policy, 34 (3), 606-633. Mackay, F 2004, Gender and political representation in the UK: the state of the ‘discipline’. The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, 6 (1), 99-120. Science Daily 2013, News coverage of female politicians focuses on personality, males on the issues. Available at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130703140533.htm [Accessed 3 May 2014]. Watts, D 2003, Understanding US/UK government and politics a comparative guide, Manchester, Manchester University Press. Wolfsfeld, G 2011, Making sense of media and politics five principles in political communication, New York, Routledge. Read More