Media and Elections

Rob Burley on Politics and the Media

This course takes the form of a series of questions put to Rob Burley, a political journalist and former Editor of the BBC’s live political programmes. In the first module we ask, “Do traditional media sources continue to play a role in shaping electoral outcomes?”. We follow this in the second module with a question on soundbites, their effects, and their possible future. In the third module, we ask whether Burley’s experience as a political editor bears out the widely held belief that politicians should not be trusted, before turning in the fourth and fifth modules to the subject of political interviews. In the sixth module we ask whether Burley has noticed any changes in politicians’ attitudes towards appearing on political programmes over the course of his 25-year career, before turning in the seventh module to the subject of how digital and social media informs or shapes political programming. In the eighth module we ask: “To what extent does the media play a role in the success or failure of parliamentary parties between elections?”. Then, in the ninth module, we turn to the subject of impartiality in political reporting, and the difficulties of maintaining impartiality in practice. In the tenth module, we ask “How does national political coverage differ in the UK versus the US?”. Then, finally, in the eleventh module, we ask “Why might young people not watch political programmes, and what might be done to remedy this?”. This course provides both conceptual knowledge and a variety of helpful real-life examples for the “UK Politics: Politics and the Media” section of the A Level exam specifications.

Media and Elections

In this module Rob Burley answers the question: “Do traditional media sources continue to play a role in shaping electoral outcomes?”, focusing in particular on: (i) the “Partygate” scandal; (ii) the influence of traditional media in shaping discourse on social media; (iii) the influence of traditional media sources on perceptions of politicians and parties, e.g. the Daily Mail and Penny Mordaunt during the 2022 Conservative leadership election.