This is an A* A level politics essay on the UK section of the course. It is a source question with the title 'Using the source evaluate the view that the newspaper press does not have a major influence on voting behaviour?
It got 28/30 and comes with teacher feedback and is great to use as a gu...
Using the source evaluate the view that the newspaper press does not have a major
influence on voting behaviour?
Overall, Mark and Grade: 28/30 – A*
Teacher feedback:
What went well:
Excellent use of examples to justify the arguments you made and excellent use of the
source to back up your points. Evaluation of the source was also very good.
Well done mentioning the opposing arguments and they were counteracted well too.
You used topic sentences throughout to set out your argument which is good.
Areas for improvement:
In the introduction it is good to mention the arguments, as you did however make
sure you clearly explain in your introduction why the opposing argument is weak and
why yours is better.
Over the last decades, the circulation of newspapers has declined drastically with voters
deriving most of their political information from the internet and online sources such as social
media platforms. Because of this decline, it can be justified that the newspaper press, in
modern society has a limited or no effect on voting behaviour. Some may argue that
newspapers have an impact on voting behaviour through the newspapers own political
affiliation as if the majority of newspapers support a particular party, usually that party wins.
However, the paper a voter reads does not always mirror their political affiliation. Yet what
also must be considered is the fact that many voters also read newspapers online. Ultimately
however, the newspaper press does not have a major effect on voting behaviour.
Firstly, the tremendous decrease of the circulation of newspapers amongst the electorate
justifies how the newspaper press does not have a major influence on voting behaviour. In
may 2015 the electorate was ’45 million’ with the ‘total daily circulation’ of ‘7 million’. This is
as the source argues ‘one in six voters’. A form of media which is read by voters to such a
small extent proves that it does not have a major influence on voting behaviour. The growing
presence of social media and online platforms has resulted in voters deriving their political
information online. In recognition of this fact, the conservative party spent over £950,000 on
advertising on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook in the four weeks
running up to the 2019 general election. The fact that a major political party has
acknowledged the fact that social media is vital for advertising as opposed to newspapers
justifies how newspapers do not have a major influence on voting behaviour.
Furthermore, some may argue that the newspaper one reads usually directly correlates to
their political affiliation and the party they vote for. However, this argument is based on
generalisation, that all readers of a newspaper which supports the labour party will vote for
labour. The source accurately maintains that ‘the newspaper one reads does not necessarily
define one’s political affiliation’. The fact that ‘6%’ of readers of the guardian, a labour
supporting newspaper vote conservative demonstrates the fact that a newspaper one reads
does not greatly influence the party which they vote for. Individuals may simply read a
newspaper to find out another point of view. Newspapers do not influence ones political view
as greatly as other forms of media, for example a survey carried conducted in 2015 showed
that 62% of voters said that television influenced their political decisions and votes. This high
percentage again accurately justifies how the newspaper does not have a major influence on
voting behaviour.
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