A Historical Exploration of the Personalisation of Politics in the Print Media: The British Prime Ministers (1945–1999)

Moon

Australian Journal of Political Science

2010

260

169

The recent emergence of online social media has had a significant effect on the contemporary political landscape, yet our understanding of this remains less than complete. This article adds to current understanding of the online engagement between politicians and the public by presenting the first quantitative analysis of the utilisation of the social network tool Twitter by Australian politicians. The analysis suggests that politicians are attempting to use Twitter for political engagement, though some are more successful in this than others. Politicians are noisier than Australians in general on Twitter, though this is due more to broadcasting than conversing. Those who use Twitter to converse appear to gain more political benefit from the platform than others. Though politicians cluster by party, a relatively 'small world' network is evident in the Australian political discussion on Twitter.Much has been made of the impact of social media on the modern political landscape. For enthusiasts, social networking tools such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and blogging and video platforms offer powerful new ways to connect, influence and engage fellow citizens -perhaps ushering in a radical transformation in the way citizens connect with and influence their government and politicians connect with the public. Within this, politicians throughout the democratic world have begun to embrace such tools as a new way to connect with their constituents, shortcutting the heavily mediated connections offered by traditional media (Keane 2009a;Posetti 2010;Westling 2007). As Queensland Premier Anna Bligh recently observed, Engaging with the community online is a great way for me, as Premier, to get feedback on the decisions and actions of my government . . . Twitter in

Section: Politiciansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Dialogue? Australian Politicians' use of the Social Network Tool Twitter

Moon

Australian Journal of Political Science

2010

260

169

“…With political seniority has come public visibility and an intensification of personalised media coverage (Stanyer, 2007: 72), casting into relief the importance of successful image-making and representation across politicians of all genders (Street, 2011, Wheeler, 2013. As evidence of a broader shift towards personalisation, Langer (2007) highlights the content of the UK Times newspaper, which, since the 1980s, has intensified its focus on the individual qualities of senior politicians. Suggesting this is part of a broader trend, Strömbäck and Esser (2014) argue that political leaders internalise the demands of personalised coverage by performing their role according to the demands of mediation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and the development of a political persona: The case of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon

Higgins

McKay

2016

Br Polit

Much recent research has focussed on the manner in which women political leaders are portrayed in media (Childs, 2008;Campus, 2013;O'Neill and Savigny, 2014). This article examines the press discourses around Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, beginning before her participation in the 2004 Scottish National Party (SNP) leadership contest, and continuing through to her appointment as Scottish First Minister in 2014. Starting prior to her deputy leadership, a variety of definitional strategies positioned Sturgeon as aggressive and shrewish. Subsequently, in keeping with the obligations of a more 'intimate' politics, we find a softening and domestication of Sturgeon's media image, alongside discourses of political competence and professionalism. Yet, the article shows how these shifts took place in a manner that continued to call upon established gendered discourses, often with newspapers using tactics of distancing. We suggest this illustrates the competing pulls of media logic, where the mediatisation of Sturgeon's image produces a marketable political persona, but accompanied by those residual gendered discourses long associated with the political press.

“…Arguably, the focus has long been on informing voters of pertinent personal qualities such as competence and trustworthiness (Lippmann, 1993(Lippmann, [1927), but the contemporary personalisation of politics involves a greater focus on politicians' private lives and emotional authenticity (Langer, 2007).…”

Section: Political Legitimacy: the Public Interest And Personal Authementioning

confidence: 99%

The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: Dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity

Birks

2011

Br Polit

Abstract:Newspaper campaigns embody newspaper' most emphatic claims to speak for 'the people', and as such are generally regarded as populist. However, they can be oppositional, engaging in dissent of one sort or another, and often assume a certain amount of political engagement with that dissent on the part of the audience. This article examines the potential of newspaper camapigns to facilitate the political engagement of citizens through the politics of protest. It draws on qualitative analysis of seven campaigns that ran in the Scottish press between 2000 and 2005, and semistructured interviews with relevant journalists. The distinction between legitimate protest and manipulative populism is made in terms of: (a) the rhetoric and strategies of political representation, participation and influence and (b) the construction of political legitimacy in terms of the public interest and the moral authority of the 'victim'. It is argued that populist impulses dominate, driving a tendency to use discourses of emotional authenticity and offence to legitimise demands for a plebiscitary response to popular of 'victim' preference and to close down controversy and debate, with the principal objective marketing the newspaper as an influential community champion.