The MODERN MEDIA

白婷

Abstract ： As the development of the modern technology， the modern media have become more dependent than ever before， and its influence in British politics have also been enforced with its various channels and forms. In order to illustrate its influence in British politics， this thesis analysis its influence from three different aspects of the relatinship between modern media and British politics-the influence of the modern media in political participation， the role of the media in campaigns and elections， and how media coverage influences the formulation of governmental policy.

Keywords ： Modern Media British Politics Influence

1. Introduction

In this modern society， as the rapid development of modern techlologies， for example， Semiconductor Technology， submarine cable， jet plane， satellite communication， DVD， satellite TV， cable TV，it is become more convenient for the public get the information of politics from various channels of mass media， such as， the Real-time reporting， cable TV， talk show， MTV， satellite TV， Internet （on-line poll， network broadcast， on-line forum， chatroom） and so on （ Yang 76 ）.

However， when the media are more than a neutral channel of political communication， they do not merely provide information about the politics， they are influential participants in the political system. Especially， when the modern media gets more freedom than ever before in this modern society， it has a more stable status in political life ， and some even argue it as the "forth estate"（Kavanagh 204）. That is to say， nowadays the influence of media even have surpassed the power of the opposition and Parliament to some extent.

This thesis focuses on the way in which modern mass media have influenced the British politics. More generally， it concerns with specific topics include the influence of the modern media in political participation， the role of the media in campaigns and elections， and how media coverage influences the formulation of governmental policy.

2. Modern Media in Political Participation

While political participation plays a more and more important role in the modern political life under the concept of realizing modern democracy （Tang 85），the prompt political information has also gained its indispensable place in the process of public's participation to the political decision-making， the agenda-setting and other political activities in sociey.

2.1 Positive Effects

The positive effects of modern media in political participation can be dividede into two aspects.

For the public who want to know the truth of govermental activities， the modern media can provide more channels for them to be closer to the reliable news coverage. That is because， besides the traditional media tools， for example， the newspaper， the Televison and Internet can give more comprehensive information about a news event.

Therefore， although there are still some political bias in the mass media， the public still has more chances to get to know the simutaneous and reliable political information through various communicative tools and the political information have become more transparent and more comprehensive because of those various forms of transportion..

For example， the modern mass media， especially the televison ， which is the dominant medium of political communication in our age， have enhanced the transparency and reliability of political activities to some extent.

As a matter of fact， under the backgroud of commercial society， the mass media become more independent， and at the same time， the freedom of mass media have been assured by the concept of liberal democracy. Although， the habit of secrecy is deeply ingrained in British government and the enforcement of Offical Secrets Acts have constrained this freedom to some extent， the intense competitive journalism have compelled some news agency to investigate the political leaders private life and the truth of the political events in a comparatively open way.

2.2 Negative Effects

As more and more politicians are critical of the way the media reports politics， claiming that they over-simplify， exaggerate and focus too much on scandals or disagreements between politicians. The negative effects of modern media is also evident in British politics.

For instance， excessively obessession with modern media will harm public's judgemental ability and even mislead and cheat the public when all the news have been screened out unwelcome or divergent political message. That is to say， when the mass media greatly change the old ways of political participation， on the other hand it erodes the political rights of pubic by the way of misturbing their thoughts （Yang 78）. Actually， when more and more political information can be get through more and more different channels， the public lose the stable way to participating in the politics and could not recognize the truth from the events flooded in the mass media which in fact cut the efficiency of their political participation.

3. The Role of the Media In campaigns and Elections

In modern societity， political parties and candidates tend to find the media， and in particular television， more and more important for campaigning and seek to appear as much as possible on the television. Television is widely regarded as the most important instrument for campaigning and communication to the voters in countries with widespread coverage and audience.

3.1 Media as a Spotlight in Campaigns and Elections

In the U.K. during the final decade of the 20th century （1990-2000） there was significant correspondence between public concern about policy issues and the coverage of campaign strategy and the election horse race in The Times （Yang 78）.

By spotlighting what issues the public should focus on， the media helps to dictate what issues voters should be concerned with in elections and what criteria they should use to judge politicians by. "Most of the new information voters receive over the course of a political campaign is transmitted either by news media or through social networks such as interpersonal discussion "（Chen 116）. The media can greatly influence the public by limiting coverage of certain candidates.

However， the various channel of mass media do not always benefit for all the parties in Great Britain. Actually， in order to propagandize its party policies and gain more electorates in the election， allegations of political bias in the media are common， there is considerable controversy concerning the nature of this media bias， however neither labours or conservatives are always pleased.

In sum， the news media have a substantial influence on the content of the public agenda， and the phrase "setting the agenda" has become commonplace in discussions of journalism and public opinion during the compaigns and elections.

3.2 Media As "Tabloid" in Campaigns and Elections

More and more politicians argue that media coverage practically ignores political parties and focuses instead on the candidates themselves. Actually， with the drive of attracting the public's attention and the ferious competition in its own fields in this commercial society， media in the compaigns and elections gradually become an entertaining tool， a "tabloid" ， which divert the public's concern from the serious politics ， and on the contrary make them immersed in the scandals and disputes of the party leaders' private life.

And in the competiton of gaining attractive news， many politicians have become victims under the over-spotlight of modern media. For example， Cecil Parkinson resignated as Scretary of State for Trade and Industry in 1987 because the reports of his affair with a former secretary and two MPs had been censured， fined ， and suspended from the House of Commons because they had accepted payments for questions by the revelations of Sunday Times in 1994 （Kavanagh 211）.

The media also influences the public's perception on the viability of a candidate. If reports say a certain candidate is ahead in an election， the public will come to accept that evaluation， which can greatly influence how voters cast their ballots. But over-reporting the viability of a candidate can turn the coverage into a "horse race，" meaning the media focuses too much on who is winning and who is ahead. This can influence voters by swaying their focus on what candidate has the best campaign style and not necessarily who has the best "platform or leadership skills".

Therefore， when the fuction of modern media acts like a "tabloid" because of its excessive pursuit of the news value in election and campains， these political activities have lost its original meaning， and then turns to be entertainment show of the private life of party leaders. And at the same time， both the media and the government could suffer the crisis of trust from the public because of the breakdown relationship between media and government.

4. Media Coverage and Governmental Policy

Even after the election， the media still plays a large role in influencing the governmental policy through spotlighting issues and directing public and political concerns.

As an important instrument in the detecting social prolems， the mass media can serves as a prosecutor to find problems， and then let it open in front of the public when it is necessary. While in UK， only those problems， which are generally recognized by the government as important and urgent， can enter governmental agenda （i.e. government agenda or official agenda）， the mass media can attract the public's attention to those problems which often are not emphasized by government ， and give tremendous pressures on government by the public's opinions. And then， under the great pressures of public opinon ， the government might have to approve of those questions getting into the governmental agenda and take an immediate action to solve those problems.

However， the influence of the media in the formulation of policy is dual （Zhu 143）. From the above case， we can find that the modern media can urge the government to pay more attention to the problems existing in the social life， and take an immediate action to put it into the politic agenda， t but on the other hand， the mass media can also have another fuction of changing the non-political events ， which are often ignored by public and government， into an important politial event .

Futhermore， instead of the Prime Minister choosing what international affairs to engage in， the media dictated what issue should be a concern. During the Iraqi War， aboundant mass media's coverage， which focused on the tyrannical rule of Saddam， had provided the best justification for the British's involvement in this war. As a matter of fact， compared to the speech of Tony Blair， the pictures demonstrating the civilian life of Iraq on the televison are more persuasive in proving the necessity of this war. And through this propaganda， the foreign policy of the government is enforced.

5. Conclusion

Based on the above analysis of the modern media's influence ， it is evident that the reports of modern media do not only deeply influence the public's understanding and judgement with related political issues， but also could influence public's thoughts with selective information about politics （Tang 89）. Therefore， as the modern media gets more power with its various channels and the rapid speed which can transfer political informaion to reader， listender， viewers in all kinds of forms， it is impossible for the British government to immune from the influence of the modern media. Actually， modern media have greatly change the political of life Great Britain， and as the requring of democracy in modern society， it gets more power than ever before and has the ability to refer to the any aspects of British Politics.

However， the influence of media is also need to be controlled， or the execessive power will corrupt the media itself and harm the truth of the political information and the effective communication between public and government. It is necessary to establish a balance between the media and British potiltics. And in Great Britain， some legislations and regulatory bodies have been formulted for the constriant of the mass media's power.

All in all， the influence of modern media can not be ignored in the political life of UK， and the influence have been enhanced by the development of modern media. Therefore， keeping the awareness of its influence is beneficial to all aspects of British political life. For the public， when they enjoy the convinent way of participating in political life， they must rememer the negative effects of media which might lead their thoughts and judgements into a wrong and unreasonable direction， and for the government and parliament， they not only need the mass media， but also should be alert on the power of the media. The influence of modern media in British politics is dual. It can be constructive， and it can also be destructive.

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（作者單位：陜西榆林學(xué)院）