Page 144 - An Introduction to Political Communication Fifth Edition

Intro to Politics Communication (5th edn)-p.qxp 9/2/11 10:55 Page 123

POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS
for transmitting information internally, co-ordinating activity and
dealing with feedback. As we shall see, some of the great failures of
party-political communication in recent years can be attributed to
inadequate internal public relations. Just as modern corporations now
routinely support in-house public relations departments for the purpose
of maximising organisational efficiency, so must political parties develop
structures of effective internal communication.
• Last but by no means of least importance in the study of political com-
munication, are the activities of information management. We distin-
guish this category from media management as defined above in so far
as it tends to involve open and covert methods of information mani-
pulation by political actors in positions of power. Information is a
powerful political weapon, and its selective dissemination, restriction
and/or distortion by governments is an important element in public
opinion management. Organisations which are not in power may still
use information to attack opponents, but this form of public relations
work is inevitably most important for a governing organisation, which
has all the information management resources of the state at its disposal,
and which may use them to exert considerable influence on the lives of
citizens.

Media management
The term ‘media management’ does not, in this context, refer to those
engaged in the professional work of managing media organisations, but to
the wide variety of practices whereby political actors may seek to control,
manipulate or influence media organisations in ways which correspond to
their political objectives. To use such a term conveys, probably accurately,
the politicians’ view that the media are valuable but potentially unruly allies
in the political process: essential for public exposure but unpredictable and
with a tendency to display independence. As we saw in Chapter 4, even the
most loyal of a party’s friends in the media (such as the British ‘Tory’ press
before it changed its loyalties in the era of New Labour) can embarrass and
put unwelcome pressure on it. The relationship of mutual interdependence
between political actors and media organisations described earlier does not
preclude severe criticism of the former by the latter, nor the more routine
monitoring of political power implied by the ‘fourth estate’ watchdog role.
In this context media management comprises activities designed to
maintain a positive politician–media relationship, acknowledging the needs
which each has of the other, while exploiting the institutional characteristics
of both sets of actor for maximum advantage. For the politicians, this
requires giving the media organisation what it wants, in terms of news or
entertainment, while exerting some influence over how that something is
mediated and presented to the audience.

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