Politics as a Show Business

Media & Politics

Essay

Politics as a form of show business

Yuliia Hladka

14153548

The Hague,2015

This essay aims to analyze the media-ization of politics and how politics became a form of show business through discussion of the Public Relations of politics using examples of broadly known political leaders, arguing the issue of common responsibility between media and politics. The author of the essay discusses the media-ization of politics and how latter are related to each other; talks over the place of celebrities in politics and how politicians could be recognized as celebrities by masses.

Complete media-ization

Politics now are presented to the public through various channels, such as newspapers, radio, television, internet, and the access to political updates gives human a belief of its entrance to the real world events as well as being a part of them. Public is a target for political message, therefore everything in presenting and promoting political news, campaigns and renewals is made to satisfy so-called customer. What does a customer need? Bread and circuses! (lat. panem et circenses).

Channels of presentation, which in general is called “media”, is acting the role of mirror for political process all over the world. (Louw, 2005, p.3) It covers several features including being a public watchdog, agenda setting and message production. As politics itself is a decision-making process and a struggle over gaining access to the principal positions for legitimating and/or enforcing decisions, it is vital to obtain mass support and sympathy from electorate which brings candidates to desired positions. (Louw, 2005, p.14) This could be done presenting process, candidates and issues in a show form, concentrating not on what is presented, but how it is designed and handed in to the consciousness of mass. Presentation is influencing those, who are information-poor, passive “outsiders” which are engaged in political process through voting once a few years for candidates presented. Therefore, media channels, deployed by politicians gain attention of mass by reporting on what is going on around choosing the way of affecting from ridiculous layout to provoking inscriptions which scream to customer`s brain: “Read me! Watch me! You want to find out more!”.

Every media actor endeavors to control how the news story is told, and the way public receives information is more the construction of reality than reality itself. (Lee Kaid, 2004, p.237). This is done to create needed opinion on a certain issue and remains the most important tool on gaining necessary judgement. Thus, media channels bring public together and even guide it to the certain point, for example carrying out the same action as demonstration, protest or support, and altough this public wasn`t connected person to person before, they didn`t even know each other, the uniform opinion brought them together. This persists being a principal target –what could be controlled if well planned and flavored? News programmes/articles give an opportunity to study and compare each candidate and issue of current political concern; watch debates and hear what do candidates say by themselves, giving an observer the perception of receiving primary information.  And the goal is to collect supporters for certain campaign and/or influence the choice which is at heart of media-ized politics – where the media machine, and the demagogue`s arts of manipulating mass media output, have become central to governance. (Louw, 2005, p.32). Mc Nair earlier in his work noted how much increased the competition in media sector wen cable and satellite television were involved into transmitting politics to public, and he states that the viewer is shocked, or entertained, or outraged, but not necessarily any wiser about the underlying causes of the problem being covered and an entertainment value of events begins to take precedence over their political importance. The whole political process comes to be seen by journalists as the raw material of a commodity – news or current affairs.Those aspects are the most spetacular and dramatic features. (Louw, 2005, p.66).

Political PR

Political Public Relations (PR) industry is specialized on supplying stories into the media by using journalists to disseminate stories provided by spin-doctors. (Louw, 2005, p.149) The term “spin-doctor” refers to a person who favorably interprets the words and actions of prominent public figures – in our case, politicians. The ability to spin the story is to manipulate not only what administrative official sources quote about the issue, but what is presented to masses on that issue as well and the tool of presenting a story is delivering it`s line from an angle that puts such story in the best possible light, although, not lying, but exaggerating. PR involves a multi-prong set of strategies and tacktics geared towards putting a positive spin on the politician one works for and a negative spin on the opposition. Each side of political elite creates a competition and, as nowadays PR became proffesionalized, spin-doctors may increasingly change teams playing for those who pay more, not being involved into responsibility as they are employed for their professional communication skills but not on the basis of candidate loyalty. Political leaders now employ more and more channels to make sure they are attractive enough to be selected as a candidate. They need to be convincing television performers and be able to appear and speak to their voters. Using the agenda, written by a competent spin-doctor the candidate can jump over heads of party hierarchies to appeal directly to voters, and, maintaning the charisma which is backed by a spin-doctor – to force the hand of party nominating process. (Louw, 2005, p.150). Thus, the one politician who best deals with the mechanics of the PR-ization and televisualisation are in favour. Because of it`s popularity, political PR became a very expensive business due to the cost of spin-inductry services and thus the politician`s place in the media through which this politician wants to be PR-ized: TV spots, Web pages, video releases, posters, etc. Among these media channels television provides the perfect vechicle for politics and so became a very valued spin tool.

Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States, and his media-team were, perhaps, the most significant innovators in a spin industry and PR process regarding the politics. Nixon`s media machine developed a rage of successful tools and techniques. Among them – special, ‘fancy’ advertising designed to attract voters visually; access to mass through carefully sctipted and orchestrated network television plus local media directly, freezing out ‘problem’ channels – journalists of opponent groups; avoidance of press conference in order not to be interpreted wrong. Nixon answered questions from ‘ordinary people’ (or how he called them ‘people from arena’) on the staged television events making media being excluded od asking questions which are formed to bring politician down or confuse him therefore showing the masses that the candidate is not convenient with the issue he`s being questioned about. Nixon avoided all the misunderstandings that could occur in interracting with media channels as those interpreted received information in their own vision. The important tool was allowing Nixon`s supporters to have a change to contact the White House – he received direct supportive telegrams and orchestrating letters (of course, this was a concern of his editor) (Louw, 2005, p.155) Ironically, Nixon`s career was unlimately terminated by printed media – and his own PR machine wasn`t able to save him. However, his inventions in PR-ization tools have helped the next political leaders in their integration into political success.