media BETWEEN General Elections

• Today, most papers support the Conservatives, the most widely circulated papers, The Sun and Daily Mail both do, leading us to the conclusion that Newspapers do influence the way people vote.
• Sleaze: Between 1992 and 1997 the press investigated and reported on a number of scandals relating to Conservative MPs, such as ‘cash for questions’ and numerous affairs from MPs leading a campaign to go ‘back to basics’ in terms of morality. This line of attack damaged their reputation with voters long before the 1997 election.
• The war in Iraq: The case for war in Iraq in 2003 was already controversial, but when the BBC reported that the case for war had been hyped up by using a ‘dodgy dossier’ to ‘sex up’ the issues involved it became a full blown scandal that resulted in the death of weapons inspector David Kelly. The Hutton inquiry later cleared the government, the accusations still undermined confidence in Blair
• The Expenses Scandal: In 2009 the Daily Telegraph published details of expenses claimed by MPs and peers, many being wrongfully made or for inappropriate items. This subjected all MPs to a high level of scrutiny and forced many to resign, whilst some were subjected to police investigations.
• • ‘Enemies of the People’ was a Daily Mail headline in November 2016 which claimed 3 high court judges were enemies of the people for ruling that Parliament, not the PM, should trigger article 50. The attack was condemned (though not by government) because it politicised and endangered the judiciary.