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Summary All Possible Essay Plans for Unit 1 Topic 4 A-Level Politics- Pearson Edexcel
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All Possible Essay Plans for Unit 1 Topic 4 A-Level Politics- Pearson Edexcel
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Unit 1.4- Voting Behaviour and the Media- Essay PlansEvaluate the view that the media has undue influence on UK Politics
Paragraph 1:
Broadcasting has undue influence on UK politics
The BBC has been accused of a liberal/left-wing bias.
The broadcast media is trusted by the public as it is legally impartial. This may
make it more likely to influence voting. For example, the party leader election
debates changed public perceptions of leaders Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown
in 2010. Boris Johnson tried to avoid taking part in such debates in 2019,
showing that he thought they could be influential and therefore it was safer to
avoid them.
It is undue as it may pertain political bias and yet is unaccountable.
It is undue as it certainly influences electoral outcomes- they can warp
information in their political favour.
In 2017, Theresa may’s refusal to participate in televised debates and
Corbyn’s surprisingly good performance helped to shift the media perceptions
of the two leaders. Affected politics and Brexit despite broadcasters having no
elected mandate.
Broadcasting does not have undue influence on UK politics
All UK broadcasters are bound by law to remain neutral and to offer balanced
reporting of election and referendum campaigns. They have no intentional
influence on voting behaviour.
The electoral commission oversees all TV debates held.
Nick Clegg’s good performance in the 2010 debates led to his party’s decline
in the popular vote.
Broadcasting is declining in consumption and thus has less influence.
TV’s golden age may be nearing the beginning of its end. Deloitte Global
predicts that, in the United Kingdom, 2022 will be the final year that traditional
television from broadcasters, whether live, time-shifted, or on demand,
collectively makes up more than 50% of video viewing on all screens. We
expect traditional TV broadcasters’ share of viewing hours among UK
consumers, which was 73% as recently as 2017, to fall to 53% in 2022 and
then to 49% in 2023
Paragraph 2:
The Press has undue influence
, 1992 GE, the Sun campaigned for the Tories despite Labour being expected
to win. ‘Its the Sun wot won it’. Major secured a victory after the Sun
relentlessly attacked Neil Kinnock.
There is no press regulation in terms of political bias- newspapers are highly
politicised.
Daily Mail is conservative.
Newspapers may have influenced the outcome of the Brexit referendum 2016.
The Leave campaign was supported by most newspapers.
Whatever the true policies of a party are, the electorate will often be
influenced by the manifesto of the party as portrayed in the media, notably the
printed press. The newspapers tend to line up predictably at election time and
thus can significantly affect voting behaviour.
Newspapers often align themselves with political parties and can campaign
for political parties
o Some wavering voters may be swayed.
Political bias influences voting- inappropriate use of power.
The press does not have undue influence
Newspapers reflect the typical political views of their readers, rather than
leading them. They merely reflect the readers’ opinions.
Corbyn won over 40% of the vote in 2017 despite having only the Mirror
supporting it.
Newspapers have a declining readership, so are increasingly irrelevant and
therefore less likely to influence voting.
Paragraph 3:
Social media has undue influence.
The web is unregulated so there are opportunities for any group to gain
political traction.
They report on debates and issues- subject to less scrutiny and
accountability.
Less popularised views have the potential to become more influential.
Social media influences broadcasting and newspapers and thus political
views and voting.
Russia interfered with Brexit voting on SM.
Cambridge analytica uses people’s personal data to target and infelucne the,
into voting a particular way on behalf of clients.
Can create fake news- fear of 5G. Not democratic.
Young people increasingly get their news from social media platforms. This
was shown in 2017 when Labour used social media effectively to gain support
from younger voters. They are young and impressionable.
In 2019, the conservatives paid for 2500 facebook ads
Social media does not have undue influence
, As an open media it is difficult for any one party to gain a special advantage.
Social media is a way of communicating with the public and listening in to
public opinion.
Especially useful to small parties like UKIP and the Green Party. This is
justified as they continuously fall victim to disproportional results of FPTP.
Social media is less significant an influence on older people, who are much
more likely to vote than the younger generation.
o 2019 53% of 18-24 years olds voted
o 2019 82% of 75+ voted
The advertising does not always work either- Lib Dems paid for 3000 ads in
2019 but actually lost seats
Evaluate the view that the media significantly influences the outcome of
elections in the UK
Paragraph 1:
Newspapers influence votes and affect the success of political parties.
1992 GE, the Sun campaigned for the Tories despite Labour being expected
to win. ‘Its the Sun wot won it’. Major secured a victory after the Sun
relentlessly attacked Neil Kinnock.
There is no press regulation in terms of political bias- newspapers are highly
politicised.
Daily Mail is conservative.
Newspapers may have influenced the outcome of the Brexit referendum 2016.
The Leave campaign was supported by most newspapers.
Whatever the true policies of a party are, the electorate will often be
influenced by the manifesto of the party as portrayed in the media, notably the
printed press. The newspapers tend to line up predictably at election time and
thus can significantly affect voting behaviour.
Newspapers often align themselves with political parties and can campaign
for political parties
o Some wavering voters may be swayed.
Political bias influences voting- inappropriate use of power.
Newspapers do not influence voters and thus don't affect the success of
parties.
Newspapers have a declining readership, so are increasingly irrelevant and
therefore less likely to influence voting.
Research suggests that newspapers only reinforce existing political affiliations
and don't change minds
Corbyn won over 40% of the vote in 2017 despite having only the Mirror
supporting it.
There is usually a correlation between the political views of the readership of
a newspaper and the political stance of the paper itself. Thus newspapers
don't really change people’s political views or votes. They merely reinforce
people's standing political views.
, There is scant evidence that newspapers significantly influence voting.
Indeed, in the 2017 GE the vast majority of newspapers backed the Cs,
mainly because their owners backed C policy, but to little avail, as the party
lost its commons majority following a labour resurgence
Paragraph 2:
Broadcasters influence voting behaviour and thus affect the success of
political parties.
The broadcast media is trusted by the public as it is legally impartial. This may
make it more likely to influence voting.
o TV and radio broadcasters, such as the BBC and ITV, have to be
neutral and balanced by law.
For example, the party leader election debates changed public perceptions of
leaders Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown in 2010. Boris Johnson tried to avoid
taking part in such debates in 2019, showing that he thought they could be
influential and therefore it was safer to avoid them.
TV debates have had an impact on the fortunes of the parties. In 2010, LC
leader Clegg’s performance in the TV debates was widely praised. Partly, as
a result, the LDs did well enough to enter into a coalition with the Cs. in 2015,
by contrast, Labour leader Miliband performed poorly and this was a factor in
Labour’s failure to win the election.
Boris Johnson tried to avoid taking part in such debates in 2019, showing that
he thought they could be influential and therefore it was safer to avoid them.
In 2017, Theresa may’s refusal to participate in televised debates and
Corbyn’s surprisingly good performance helped to shift the media perceptions
of the two leaders. Affected politics and Brexit despite broadcasters having no
elected mandate.
Broadcasting is unlikely to affect party success
Broadcast media is not likely to influence voting as broadcasters have a legal
obligation to be impartial. Thus no political views are enforced and people are
not swayed a certain way.
Broadcasting is declining in consumption and thus has less influence.
TV’s golden age may be nearing the beginning of its end. Deloitte Global
predicts that, in the United Kingdom, 2022 will be the final year that traditional
television from broadcasters, whether live, time-shifted, or on demand,
collectively makes up more than 50% of video viewing on all screens. We
expect traditional TV broadcasters’ share of viewing hours among UK
consumers, which was 73% as recently as 2017, to fall to 53% in 2022 and
then to 49% in 2023.
The broadcast media is trusted by the public as it is legally impartial. This may
make it more likely to influence voting. For example, the party leader election
debates changed public perceptions of leaders Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown
in 2010.
Paragraph 3:
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