The media

• why in election campaigns

  Political parties will try to get support from newspapers in their campaign as they can be biased and promote a specific party. A good headline such as The SUN ‘

  Boris ticks all the boxes’ will encourage readers to share this

  view vote Conservative.
• why in election campaigns

  Political parties use social media as algorithms let them target voters by age and gender. Social media is used by many younger voters so is used to reach these people that are less likely to vote.
• role of free media in democracy

  Educate voters about different parties in the run up to an election - this gives people the information needed to participate and could influence how they vote. Summarize manifestos on websites and BBC holds leader debates
• role of free media in democracy

  act as a watchdog on government actions, let the public get the truth about their actions in reporting and interviews. The press can criticise the government - this could influence how people vote AND how the government behaves. told the public that Boris Johnson’s government broke their own covid rules, known as ‘Partygate’. An investigation found he had knowingly misled parliament and he resigned.
• Can the media influence if people vote and who they vote for at elections?

  Newspapers can be biased. They print positive articles about the party they support and negative headlines and articles about the opposition. This bias can affect how their readers will vote. The Sun and Daily Mirror are the most bought newspapers and support the Conservatives. The SUN 2019 headline ‘ Boris ticks all the boxes’ encouraged readers to vote Conservative. The BBC news leads with newspaper headlines, this gives papers more publicity to people who might not buy a newspaper.
• why a newspaper might not influence

  People buy newspapers for other reasons e.g. sport. People buy papers that already share their political view so it won’t win over new voters. Less and less people buy newspapers. Not all SUN newspaper readers will vote.
• Can the media influence if people vote and who they vote for at elections?

  Broadcast media, television, radio and online has to be impartial. People trust tv like the BBC news to find out about the parties and candidates. They will watch leaders debates so decide who they’d like to lead the country. In 2019 6.7 million people watched the ITV leaders’ debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Boris Johnson.
• why Broadcast media, television, radio and online might not influence

  Older people are more likely to watch tv than younger people. In the 2019 election campaign people aged 18-34 spent less than 8 minutes/week on news sites, less than 2 minutes a day!
• how does it influence what gets government attention, shaping government policy

  If the media draw attention to an issue with the public it can force the government to investigate it. Media often run their own campaigns about issues they think are important.BBC documentary Blue Planet showed the dangers of single use plastic. It led to a social media campaign which pressurised the government and led to the banning of plastic straws in 2020.