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Originally Posted by Kizzy

No you can't be suggesting that the media don't influence the electorate can you?.....
Where else do people get the information they base their opinions on?

It's more of a sociological than political issue in my view, we have the rise and rise of the bouquet family who think they're better off because they're in more dept than anyone else on the street
That justifies it in their minds to align themselves with the elite as they look down on anyone who can't afford a 10ft conservatory

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.

Originally Posted by joeysteele

Not sure.

I was only just born then but my Dad says he recalls absolutely loads of people mentioning the Sun's headline on election day 1992 as to putting the lights out if Kinnock had won.

Now however, I think the papers have less influence.

Also as to the polls,they were not necessarily wrong, all polls have a plus or minus error margin of up to 3% either way.
Most had labour and the Conservatives neck and neck on 34% each, take that 3% add it to the Conservatives you get 37% and then take that 3% from Labour to 31%.
That was actually spot on what the final tally of votes was.

I'm sure it lives long in the memory because it was a very successful, eye-catching headline. But I believe that the Kinnock campaign had been losing ground for some time before that and that his defeat had no longer looked so unlikely, a lot of people seem to point to the Sheffield rally in particular as doing a lot of damage.

Of course it was before my time and I won't claim to be an expert on that election but I think it is very easy to have hindsight distorted in crediting one headline or the efforts of one paper in deciding an outcome