The media’s power and influence in the political arena cannot be underestimated as Jean Seaton talks of how media tycoons and politicians controlling the media could keep some issues out of the public eye. This is what political scientists call ‘nondecision making’. It has also been argued that the media has become the stage for political debate rather than the House of Commons, “The main arena of political debate is now the broadcasting studio, not the floor of he Commons.” (Peter Riddell, Politics and the Media, pg-8)
The media also has the factor of sleaze or scandal at its disposal, another way in which the it has a grip over politics. Politicians cannot afford to slip up in the world of politics as this can be pounced on the press. An example of this is minister’s actions in the cabinet. Cabinet members must be very careful of their activities in the executive as the press has funny ways of exposing those activities. An example of this comes in the form of Sir Robert Armstrong in the ‘Spycatcher affair’. This shows that a cabinet’s policy making ability, may be influenced by the media in such a way that a minister may base a proposal on which would be well received in the press. If they devise a poor policy, it may be leaked to the press and subsequently they may loose their place in office. It can be said that ministers at times fear the press and this often influences their political agenda setting.
There are those however, who claim that the press is in fact under the influence of a number of politicians. This would lead to the claim that it is in fact the politicians that set the political agenda. Bob Franklin claims that “Skilled and highly paid marketing and communications professionals create favourable media images for politicians and their policies.” (Bob Franklin, Packaging Politics, pg-13)
This would result in these images and documents being presented to the public through the media. This again shows that the media would be involved in influencing the public over a political agenda, but in this case, the media is the one that has been influenced in its printing from an indirect political source. This argument is further reinforced in the writings of John Eldridge, Jenny Kitzinger and Kevin Williams who argue that the media no longer simply offer public information about political affairs, but are increasingly being managed by politicians. (The Mass Media and Power in Modern Britain, pg-110) This in turn leads to these politicians having their policies and views being delivered to the public in a greater commodity.
One cannot forget that although there so much media influence in the political sphere, it is still common practise for politicians to meet in the House of Commons where political agenda will be discussed to great lengths. This is no more portrayed than at Prime Ministers question time, where back-bench MP’s have their chance to address the Prime Minister on a specific political issue. This is perhaps setting political agenda in its clearest form. Furthermore, there is the regular meetings of the cabinet where political agenda will be discussed among those elite MP’s who run the country. This is where political agenda on the running of the country is discussed. Whether an individual of the cabinet introduces new policy with or without the influence of media, it is still that politician who is setting the political agenda. A cabinet member will be aware of the state of affairs in their department, and will set political agenda to tackle the problem in their department if there is one. John Kingdom talks of how a government seen to be setting agenda is strong, and this reinforced by the cabinet’s policy of collective responsibility. “A united front has proved a valuable asset.” (John Kingdom, Government and Politics in Britain, pg-405)
The last factor in the political agenda seen, is the people. Many political commentators agree that the people in actual fact do not have much influence in the setting of political agenda. Indeed, it has been said that the most influence a person may have in policy making, is by voting for their party who are likely to share their political views. However, there is the chance that the party of that person’s choice, will not get into government. In some cases, it can be argued that the people do set the political agenda, however this would have to see large mass of people sharing the same political issue for that issue to become political agenda.
On the whole, it can be clearly seen that the power of politics lies in the hands of the politicians and the media. It can be stated that the people have little say in the setting of political agenda. This is with regards to the fact that for most people, their vote in an election which, only takes place every 4 or 5 years, is likely to be their most significant involvement in the politics of their country. However, it is much tougher to determine whether it is the media or the politicians that set the political agenda. Both can be argued, need each other in politics, as politicians can use the press to voice their policies on a larger scale. More importantly, politicians can base their policies or set political agenda on reports from the media and often do. The media can act has a means of gaining the information needed for a government to implement new agenda. However, the media often sets political agenda based on the activities of politicians themselves. Overall, it can be concluded that it is the politicians who set political agenda, as technically they do, however, it cannot be stressed how important a role the media plays in the formulation of political agenda.
Bibliography
Bulge, Ian. Crewe, Ivor. Mckay, David. Newton, Ken (1998) ‘The New British Politics’.
Pearson Education Ltd
Eldridge, John. Kitzinger, Jenny. Williams, Kevin (1997) ‘The Mass Media and Power in Modern Britain’. Oxford University Press
Kingdom, John. (1999) ‘ Government and Politics in Britain’. Blackwell Publishers Ltd
Riddell, Peter. (1998) ‘Politics and the Media’. Blackwell Publishers Ltd