Page 234 - An Introduction to Political Communication Second Edition

NOTES

6 PARTY POLITICAL COMMUNICATION I: ADVERTISING
1 Kaid defines it as ‘the process by which a source (usually a political
candidate or party) purchases the opportunity to expose receivers through
mass channels to political messages with the intended effect of influencing
their political attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviour’ (1981, p.250).
2 The ad was directed by Ridley Scott for Collett, Dickinson and Pearce.
3 The general functions of political advertising are listed by Devlin as: (a)
increasing the public’s identification of a candidate; (b) swaying the small,
but crucial segment of the voters who are ‘floating’, or undecided; (c)
reinforcing support for a party or candidate; (d) attacking opponents,
and; (e) raising money (1986).
4 Richards, S., ‘Interview: Clare Short’, New Statesman, August 9, 1996.
5 Three-Minute Culture, BBC2, January 29, 1989.
6 For an account of Livingstone’s political development and emergence as
GLC leader, see Carvel, 1984.
7 The Local Government Act 1986, London, HMSO, 1986.
8 Consultation paper on the reform of party political broadcasting, p.3.

7 PARTY POLITICAL COMMUNICATION II: POLITICAL
PUBLIC RELATIONS
1 For details of the most important of the American political public relations
specialists, see Chagall, 1981.
2 On coming to power in 1997, the Labour government reformed the
operation of prime minister’s question time, reducing its frequency from
twice per week to once, while increasing the duration of sessions. As this
edition went to press, opinion remained divided as to whether this had
improved the opportunities for the prime minister to be questioned by
opposing members of parliament (by allowing for more sustained and
detailed questioning), or restricted them by reducing his exposure.
3 ITV, May 24, 1987.
4 Butler and Kavanagh, for example, write of the ‘triumphalism’ of the
Sheffield rally (1992, p.139).
5 At the outset of the 1992 general election campaign Channel 4 broadcast
a documentary, presented by Guardian columnist Hugo Young, in which
a succession of journalists and analysts made clear their concerns about
the democratic implications of intensifying media management by
politicians (Danger to Democracy, Channel 4, 1992).
6 For whom Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie have performed in television
advertisements.
7 As Eric Shaw observes: ‘this involved creating product recognition
through the use of trademarks and slogans; differentiating the product
from others by creating a unique selling proposition; encouraging the
audience to want the product by enveloping it in a set of favourable
associations; committing the audience to the product and its associated
promises by inducing it to identify with all the advert’s symbolised
meaning and ensuring that the audience recalls the product and its need
for it by repeated messages’ (1994, p.65).
8 Campbell, A., ‘We Will Survive’, Guardian, December 22, 1997.

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