[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Of course they have an influence but the power of the newspaper media has declined a lot in recent decades. People now have basically an infinite choice of places to get their news so that it is no longer the case that a few select titles have a monopoly over information. On top of that politics and politicians are generally more accessible than ever before, they are more accountable to the public and we are all able to witness first hand their claims and promises and see how they stand up on the television, on radio, online etc. I'm tired of hearing that Murdoch is to blame or that voters are so simple to have been duped by what they read in today's rag rather than having the capability to make their own mind up.

Then how do you account for the corroboration in the collective mindsets of the Murdock owned readership coinkydink?...

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

Then how do you account for the corroboration in the collective mindsets of the Murdock owned readership coinkydink?...

Who's to say they do think the same? Where the Sun is concerned I doubt there is a significant difference between Labour supporting readers and Tory ones. And anyway it's fairly natural for people to read the paper that is more likely to reflect their stance. Newspapers follow public sentiment more than they dictate it.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Who's to say they do think the same? Where the Sun is concerned I doubt there is a significant difference between Labour supporting readers and Tory ones. And anyway it's fairly natural for people to read the paper that is more likely to reflect their stance. Newspapers follow public sentiment more than they dictate it.

You have infinitely more faith in people than I do. That's all I can really say.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Who's to say they do think the same? Where the Sun is concerned I doubt there is a significant difference between Labour supporting readers and Tory ones. And anyway it's fairly natural for people to read the paper that is more likely to reflect their stance. Newspapers follow public sentiment more than they dictate it.

The collective statements give it away 'Labour spent all the money' 'people on benefits are scroungers' ' immigrants are cockroaches'

I would say those type of statements were predominantly from the right wing media and negatively influence their readership.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

The collective statements give it away 'Labour spent all the money' 'people on benefits are scroungers' ' immigrants are cockroaches'

I would say those type of statements were predominantly from the right wing media and negatively influence their readership.

Now now Kizzy, those people might have deduced for themselves that Labour lost all of the country's money by carefully going through the party's spending records over their years in power and carefully contrasting them against studies of good economic practice and theories on economic growth.

They definitely, definitely didn't just read it in The Sun or hear it from their dad "who knows about these things". Because people are "smart". Apparently.

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Now now Kizzy, those people might have deduced for themselves that Labour lost all of the country's money by carefully going through the party's spending records over their years in power and carefully contrasting them against studies of good economic practice and theories on economic growth.

They definitely, definitely didn't just read it in The Sun or hear it from their dad "who knows about these things". Because people are "smart". Apparently.

I'm not saying that people are not influenced by the media - I'm saying that it is now a much more open arena than it's ever been before and one title or one viewpoint does not have a monopoly on information. The media is simply one factor in the sphere of public opinion and public interaction with politics. It's true that the UK printed press lean more to the right overall but not by enough to swing a whole election. And y'know, sometimes these views do actually have some basis and are not just lies conjured up to line pockets. Yes Labour didn't cause the financial crash blah blah blah but there is a legitimate debate to be had over whether there was an element of mismanagement in the UK economy which failed to shield us from the worst of it.

But I suppose I am the one coming out with the nonsense view and that it's easier to stick with the belief that the press = tory so people = tory. The press hate immigrants so the people hate immigrants. Public opinion is simply defined by whatever the Sun prints today and that is only ever going to be cynical.

[smudgie]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I'm not saying that people are not influenced by the media - I'm saying that it is now a much more open arena than it's ever been before and one title or one viewpoint does not have a monopoly on information. The media is simply one factor in the sphere of public opinion and public interaction with politics. It's true that the UK printed press lean more to the right overall but not by enough to swing a whole election. And y'know, sometimes these views do actually have some basis and are not just lies conjured up to line pockets. Yes Labour didn't cause the financial crash blah blah blah but there is a legitimate debate to be had over whether there was an element of mismanagement in the UK economy which failed to shield us from the worst of it.

But I suppose I am the one coming out with the nonsense view and that it's easier to stick with the belief that the press = tory so people = tory. The press hate immigrants so the people hate immigrants. Public opinion is simply defined by whatever the Sun prints today and that is only ever going to be cynical.

Well, never read a newspaper in many many years, the only headlines I have seen are what have been on here, normally curtesy of Arista.
I did watch all the debates, if that counts.
For me the biggest influence on my vote is life in general and how it affects me and mine.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Well, never read a newspaper in many many years, the only headlines I have seen are what have been on here, normally curtesy of Arista.
I did watch all the debates, if that counts.
For me the biggest influence on my vote is life in general and how it affects me and mine.

Me too, I take no notice of newspapers.
I do however know people who hang on their every word, as to Mirror readers or Daily Mail readers and that other ragbag of a paper the Sun.

Like you too ,most of the headlines I have seen from the likes of Sun, Daily mail etc; and others are what arista posts on here.

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I'm not saying that people are not influenced by the media - I'm saying that it is now a much more open arena than it's ever been before and one title or one viewpoint does not have a monopoly on information. The media is simply one factor in the sphere of public opinion and public interaction with politics. It's true that the UK printed press lean more to the right overall but not by enough to swing a whole election. And y'know, sometimes these views do actually have some basis and are not just lies conjured up to line pockets. Yes Labour didn't cause the financial crash blah blah blah but there is a legitimate debate to be had over whether there was an element of mismanagement in the UK economy which failed to shield us from the worst of it.

But I suppose I am the one coming out with the nonsense view and that it's easier to stick with the belief that the press = tory so people = tory. The press hate immigrants so the people hate immigrants. Public opinion is simply defined by whatever the Sun prints today and that is only ever going to be cynical.

You can't counter a view by espousing the very views you're suggesting aren't influencing people...

There's a legitimate debate that the employment figures we currently have are not a true representation of who is actually in employment at this moment in the UK, that the amount of government borrowing over the last 5yrs dwarfs anything from the previous 13, that the average household is £1100 worse off under the conservatives.

I don't believe anyone had these debates as they were blindsided by the faux nationalism of the right wing media purporting the scourge approaching from the north?
The same govt who sells any asset we have to foreign investors, French nuclear, American frackers, Chinese developers.... it's all subjective this 'national pride' isn't it in the grand scheme of things as the sex pistols said 'ever get the feeling you're being cheated?'

[MTVN]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

You can't counter a view by espousing the very views you're suggesting aren't influencing people...

There's a legitimate debate that the employment figures we currently have are not a true representation of who is actually in employment at this moment in the UK, that the amount of government borrowing over the last 5yrs dwarfs anything from the previous 13, that the average household is £1100 worse off under the conservatives.

I don't believe anyone had these debates as they were blindsided by the faux nationalism of the right wing media purporting the scourge approaching from the north?
The same govt who sells any asset we have to foreign investors, French nuclear, American frackers, Chinese developers.... it's all subjective this 'national pride' isn't it in the grand scheme of things as the sex pistols said 'ever get the feeling you're being cheated?'

So am I just victim of Sun propaganda as well lol?

Yes there are legitimate debates to be had over all these issues, its the beauty of politics (sort of) that nothing is black and white. Parties engage with these debates, people engage with them and yes, newspapers engage with them too. But even just one person's decision of who to vote for will typically be formed out of a melting pot of considerations, I still say it's too simplistic to reduce the vast majority of people's decision down to: who the Sun told them to vote for.