Politics and Media - Case Study Example

Politics and media Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Politics and media Diverse disciplines in academia have made extensive efforts in expounding on how the pursuit of profit by mass media corporations has impacted on the ways in which politics is reported in western liberal democracies. This fact is epitomized by Prat and Strömberg (2011, p. 1) who determined that a significant number of scholars in the economics realm have instigated extensive studies on the behavior and political impacts of mass media. In addition, the media has been cited as influencing the foreign policy of different countries as well as shaping the public opinion on different political issues in these countries. This has seen scholars and journalists arguing that the recent technological advancements which have resulted in 24-hours news cycles has to a great extent adjusted the course of relationship between foreign policy and public opinion in different countries, a phenomenon which has been generally been labeled as the ‘CNN effect’ (Baum & Potter, 2008, p. 51). Thus, the undertakings of the mass media corporations has been cited as posing massive effects, both positive and negative, on the ways in which politics is reported in different western liberal democracies, shaping the transformations and twists of the political realities in these countries. Thus, this paper will explore these different ways in which pursuit of profit by mass media corporations has impacted on the ways in which politics is reported in a western democracy, the case study being the United Kingdom. Different examples will be put into utility to explain this phenomenon. Mass media and the pursuit of profits There has been an elevated paradigm shift in the realms of mass media whereby reporting of different occurrences both at the national and international level by the mass media has shifted from primarily being a societal responsibility to the necessity of increasing the consumer base amid increasing competition in this industry. This fact is supported by Newton (1999) who cited that the elevated competition in the market as well as the search for a greater audience which will culminate in increased profit margins for the mass media corporations through circulation figures has seen the shift towards these media corporations primarily dwelling on more dramatic news, for instance, corruption and political incompetence, disaster and death, conflicts and crime and anything else that is sensational in the public domain. Against this background, there has been an increasing tendency by the mass media corporations to exaggerate it or even try to create is aimed at increasing the audience base. Perhaps one of the most salient influences of the pursuit of profit by mass media corporations has impacted on the ways in which politics is reported in the UK is through the opinion polls which shape the elections climate in this democracy. Hoppner (2010, p. 998) determined that through publishing the opinion polls, the mass media solely undertakes two fundamental democratic responsibilities. Firstly, the process of publishing the opinion polls plays a central role in guiding and informing the politico-economic decisions of the citizens. Secondly, this reportage informs the viewers as well as the readers about the general sentiment in the wider population and permits them to compare their personal perspectives with those of particular subgroups or the entire population (Hoppner, 2010, p. 999). Consequently, the opinion polls have been playing a major role in influencing the voting behavior in the UK. This is exemplified in the bandwagon hypothesis which proposes that predictions during the opinion polls exert pressure on the voters who are undecided to vote for the party which is predicted to win. Thus, the sponsorship of these opinion polls in the mass media greatly determines the extent to which they will impact on the target population and their eventual impact on the voting behavior of the electorates. In the UK, reputable and experienced pollsters, for instance, Harris, ICM and Gallup immensely influence the election climate. This is based on the fact that polls are central in dictating who is newsworthy in the profit seeking mass media and who is not. Consequently, the candidates or parties who are perceived of having a greater chance of winning the election or having salient influence on the outcomes of the elections are usually considered as the ‘big news’ while others receive little or no media attention (Lange, 1999, 51). This is based on the fact that reporting on the ‘big news’ candidates or parties by the profit seeking mass media corporations will mean increased viewing or purchase of the print media which has positive impacts on the revenue base. Thus, this plays a central role in informing the way in which political issues are reported by the mass media corporations in the UK which are in pursuit of profits. The aspect of opinion polls is closely tied to the increased popularity of paid political advertisements both in the print media as well as in other mass media corporations like the television. Many of the anti-paid political advertisements have cited that this practice undermines equality in opportunity. This is whereby the politicians who have solid financial backing are endowed with an upper hand in terms of buying for time and space in the mass media. Consequently, they become more visible in the public domain and are able to conduct their campaigns in the mass media far above others with limited financial backing. This alleged advantage of the politicians who have more money or backed by wealthy corporations has thus been cited as undemocratic (Lange, 1999, 37). In the UK, this phenomenon is more aggravated by the fact that there is no specific press law which expounds on the restrictions and rights of the mass media or particular privacy legislation. In addition, allowing paid political advertisement which only serves the interests of profit seeking mass media corporations and wealthy politicians has been cited to increase the need for fund-raising based on the inflated costs of broadcasting political advertisements amid increasing popularity of political advertisements. In this regard, the relationship between the profit pursuing mass media corporations and the politicians has been perceived as degenerating into a financial arms race (Lange, 1999, 37). Lastly, the issue of sponsorship has resulted to the query of the probable debts (figurative or literal) which the politicians experience to their sponsors. This is based on the fact that groups as well as individuals who have immense wealth, whether legitimate or not have been perceived to purchase their access to the executive division of power both in the UK and among other western democracies (Lange, 1999, 38). This has culminated in the call for free political advertising which will give all the candidates an equal access to the electorates despite their financial capital. Nonetheless, this proposition is confronted by extensive logistics in the course of implementation since practically all the candidates will tend to rush for increased media coverage which will have detrimental effects in overburdening the audience. Thirdly, McCombs (2001, p. 1) cited that the immense power in the mass media to set the agenda of a nation, to avert the attention in the public domain towards several key issues has received massive documentation. This is founded on the fact that people rely on the mass media in their efforts to acquire factual information about the public affairs as well as learning how much importance they ought to attach to a certain topic based on the amount of emphasis it is given in the mass media. In the UK, this has tended to gain increased prominence whereby issues like the impacts of the European Crisis, climate change and global terrorism among other key topics have influenced the media coverage. Eventually, these fundamental concerns among the citizens in the UK have tended to greatly inform the political agenda of different parties/candidates during elections. In this regard, the tendency of unregulated paid political advertisements previously mentioned is disposed towards personalization of the campaigns. This is whereby the candidates during elections exert much reliance on the manipulation of the profit seeking mass media corporations on advancing their manifestos as opposed to the coherence and soundness of their election manifestos (Lange, 1999, 38). Another aspect of the impact of the way in which pursuit of profit by mass media corporations has impacted on the ways in which politics is reported in the UK is epitomized by the reporting (or non-reporting) of major scandals in the British authorities. This is whereby there has been a tendency of various mass media corporations in the UK to expose scandals in different levels of government as well as the law enforcement agencies depending on the gains that they are bound to get from this undertaking. This is best exemplified by the phone-hacking scandal which heaved through the public life in Britain. This revelation prompted different critics to question the relationship between the authorities in Britain and Rupert Murdoch’s media company which did brow the whistle on this scandal(Council on Foreign Relations, 2011, p. 1). These revelations were viewed as posing diabolical impacts on the efforts by the above mentioned company to acquire the British Sky Broadcasting but the most salient question remained on the long-term impacts of this revelation on the media industry at the global level, journalistic ethics as well as the necessity for media regulations (Council on Foreign Relations, 2011, p. 1). However, it is apparent that despite Rupert Murdoch’s media company jeopardizing its chances of acquiring British Sky Broadcasting, it greatly gained through the enormous increase of its viewer base in the UK as well as in the wider globe which was bound to increase its profit margin both in the short and in the long-term. This reveals one of the ways in which pursuit of profit by mass media corporations has impacted on the ways in which scandals in the political and administrative circles are reported. Another perspective of this phenomenon can be viewed in the light of popularization of the policies being undertaken by different regimes in a particular country while ignoring their adverse impacts on the welfare of the citizens. This is primarily aimed at maintaining the status quo in the political spectrum through the mass media corporations supporting some governmental policies despite their short as well as long-term impacts on the wider society both at the national and global levels based on the long-term financial benefits to the corporations that will eventually emanate from therein. This fact is supported by Fog (2004, p. 2) who determined that majority of the media critics have claimed that the commercial mass media which is under the gripping control of the several multinational corporations has evolved into becoming an anti-democratic force in direct support of the status quo. This fact is exemplified by the popularization of the mass media in the UK in the verge of the collective military invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tony Blair went down on record as having cited in the media that it was uninformed to infer that there no link between the incumbent regime in Iraq and the wider Al-Qaida network and vaguely said that there was evidence of such links whose extent was uncertain (Carty, 2005, p. 2). Instantaneously the invasion instigated, Blair announced on the national television broadcast that the sole goal of the invasion was to oust Saddam Hussein from power as well as disarming Iraq of WDM. However, Cirincione et. al. (2004, p. 58) cited that despite the removal of any WMD in Iraq being pointed as the primary indicator of a successful war, this was not necessarily the case based on three facts. Firstly, there is now increased risk of the unharmed engineers and scientists moving to work for other masters out of economic and revenge drives, losing the control over the WMD after the collapse of the central system of governance and lastly, the risk of sending a robust message future undemocratic regimes that only strong nuclear weapons would guarantee their safety in case of future foreign invasion (Cirincione et. al., 2004, p. 58). Of particular importance, this last implication was not communicated to the UK public by the mass media supporting the status quo and thus guaranteeing their survival in the market out of the anticipated political support. The effects are starting to be realized with the current uranium enrichment programs in Iran which is threatening the world peace and the security of not only the UK citizens but also other societies around the globe. Lastly, the profit seeking mass media continue to exhibit failure in reporting wrongdoing in different industries, for instance, the drugs industry and thus impact on the reluctance of the law making bodies to formulate and implement policies and legal acts aimed at regulating the undertakings these industries. This is best epitomized by the inclination of the media to suppress information on the health hazards of smoking in the UK wary of losing the advertisement revenues from these corporations (Fog, 2004, p. 2). This has resulted in limited interventions and advocacy from the political fronts to pass legislations curtailing the undertakings of these corporations. In addition, it has been claimed that particular mass media, mostly the women’s magazines have for a long term been promoting alternative health products of no worth and consequently engaging in an effective conspiracy with this industry to defraud billions of dollars from the consumers every year (Fog, 2004, p. 2). Conclusion All the above examples exhibit the different ways through which profit seeking mass media corporations have impacted on the ways in which politics is reported in the United Kingdom. This ranges from the opinion polls, to paid political advertisements, infamous policy popularization as well as dissemination of major scandals among other ways. Nonetheless, it is imperative to be cognizant of the fact that this phenomenon is not only evident in the UK but also in other western democracies. References Baum, MA. & Potter, PB., 2008, ‘The Relationships Between Mass Media, Public Opinion, and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis’, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 11, pp. 39–65. Carty, A., 2005, ‘The Iraq Invasion as a RecentUnited Kingdom ‘Contributionto International Law’, The European Journal of International Law, Vol. 16, No.1, pp. 143-151. Cirincione, J., et. al., 2004, WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington D.C. Council on Foreign Relations, 2011, ‘Britain’s Scandal, Private Media and Public Interest’, retrieved 27 September 2012, . Fog , A., 2004, ‘The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern democracy’, retrieved 27 September 2012, . Hoppner, C., 2010, ‘Rereading Public Opinion Polls on Climate Change in the UK Press’, International Journal of Communication, Vol. 4, pp. 977–1005. Lange, Y., 1999, Media and elections: Handbook, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg. McCombs, M., 2001, ‘The Agenda-Setting Role of the Mass Media in the Shaping of Public Opinion’, retrieved 27 September 2012, . Newton, K., 1999, ‘Mass Media Effects: Mobilization or Media malaise?’, British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 577-599. Prat, A. &Strömberg, D., 2011, ‘The Political Economy of Mass Media’, retrieved 27 September 2012, . Read More