Assess the role the British media plays in British politics today.

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Kongpob Muangsiri

British Government

Aj. Amir

ID.4306640428

BAS

Assess the role the British media plays in British politics today.

When thinking about the politics in Britain, words that pop up in our minds would have to be words like 'parliament', 'MPs', 'Prime Minister', and so on. Ever since the wars, changes, developments and revolutions that have occurred in Britain, democracy and independence has stood its ground as a foundation of the British political system ever since. With the freedom that the British people have, more and more of the political matters are being revealed to the public more openly. Today the British politics doesn't just operate by itself but it is, in some cases, dependent on some other outside factors. One factor that has had a huge affect on British politics is the role of the British media.

As we speak of the British media there are of course many types of media such as television, radio, newspapers, etc. Before the invention of sound broadcasting or even television, the British public depended mainly on newspapers. However, there were limits to the information that were fed through the papers because most of the issues that were discussed in the parliament were mainly decided and discussed about among only the aristocrats and upper classes. The majority of the public were those who just do as they are told.

Today, all of that has changed. Since the introduction of sound broadcasting of proceedings during the late 1970s, live or recorded, either in the Chamber of the House or in the committee, it has changed the way politicians and the political system itself is managed (Day, R.: 1985: 24). There have been many opinions expressed on the value of sound broadcasting, particularly concerning the broadcasts of Prime Minister's question time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. These periods are usually the noisiest and busiest times of the parliamentary week, and the overall impression given on these radio broadcasts were not favorable to the public image of the parliament (Johnston, P.: 1990: 54). Further more, the use of radio broadcasting has been helpful to the overall working of parliamentary democracy, allowing citizens all over the country to learn more about the working of Parliament (Gray, J.: 1990: 48).

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"Speed of communication between Parliament

and the public cannot but help the working of

modern mass democracy…" (Black, H.: 1981: 28)

Up to 1980, the House of Commons had refused to allow the televising of its proceedings, except on rare occasions like the formal ceremony of the State Opening Parliament. With the introduction of television cameras, there were considerable temptation for MPs to be present, either in the Chamber or in committee rooms, simply to appear in sight of the cameras so that their constituents and others watching television might see them (Gray, J.: 1990: 53). ...

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