Page 96 - An Introduction to Political Communication Fifth Edition

Intro to Politics Communication (5th edn)-p.qxp 9/2/11 10:55 Page 75

THE MEDIA AS POLITICAL ACTORS
daily business, giving the routine grind of debate a gently subversive satirical
twist. The magazine Private Eye may also be regarded as ‘bardic’, in its
constant investigative exposure and parodying of the absurdities and injus-
tices of British political life.
Magazines such as Private Eye, and the more conventionally journalistic
New Statesman, are examples of a press which exists for the purpose of
reporting and reflecting on politics from what we can call a ‘dissenting’,
anti-establishment perspective. These periodicals (there are no British
newspapers of this type, unless one counts the Morning Star) are often
engaged in extremely tough critiques of aspects of the system, as witnessed
by the number of banning orders taken out against them over the years.
They are, in a very real sense, ‘watchdogs’ over the political establishment.
Many political blogs adopt the same stance.

BROADCASTING

Several of the forms of political journalism deployed by the press are also
used in broadcasting, which has also produced its own class of pundits.
Paralleling the bardic role of Private Eye on television was the now-defunct
Spitting Image, a puppet show which satirised current political figures in
rather unforgiving terms. One should also include in this category output
which, although clearly not to be confused with journalism, strives to
represent the people against their leaders – impressionists and comic writers
with a strong political content in their materials, such as Rory Bremner and
Chris Morris, and comedians who specialise in heavily politicised stand-up
routines. Moving closer to journalism are interviewers, such as Jon Stewart,
who employ a chat-show format, but lace it with an element of satirical
mockery of the powerful. In the United States Jon Stewart’s Daily Show,
launched on Comedy Central in 1999, was by 2009 attracting nightly
audiences of two million with its satirical humour. As one observer put it,
‘the show’s staple diet is the gaffes, contradictions, hypocrisy and hubris of
the Bushites, and the pomposity of the mainstream media’, especially Fox
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News. All these ‘bards’, while not subject to the conventions of journalism,
make an important contribution to the public discourse of politics, exploring
current issues and concerns in a populist style which ‘straight’ broadcast
news must avoid. At this point we should mention Michael Moore, the US
TV satirist who later turned to the making of highly political feature-length
documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and Capitalism: A love story
(2010). Moore exemplifies the notion of the bard in US (and indeed global)
political culture, with his overtly opinionated, polemical critiques of events
such as the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the global banking crisis which began
in 2008 and continues as this edition went to press.

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