Page 101 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

POLITICS IN THE AGE OF MEDIATION

perspective, but also that that they should do so knowledgeably and
authoritatively.

THE COLUMN

The highest form of political punditry in press journalism is the
column (known in the US as the ‘op-ed’ column) situated on or close
to the editorial page. Here, such writers as Hugo Young of the
Guardian or Michael Jones of the Sunday Times select the issue of
the moment, as they see it, and attempt to present readers with an
informed assessment. Typically, the form includes an appeal for
action at its conclusion. As Nimmo and Combs put it, the ‘column
is a stylistic dramatisation not only of the subject or issue at hand
but also of the pundit’s rightful status to speak on it authoritatively’
(Nimmo and Combs, 1992, p. 12).
The issue selected for such treatment need not be ‘objectively’ the
most important, as judged by the media as a whole at any given
time. Hugo Young’s column may, for example, reflect the left-of-
centre character of the Guardian’s editorial and readership by
focusing on what might, to a Telegraph reader, seem a rather
obscure point about the Labour Party’s leadership election rules.
The political columnist, having authority, also has licence to go
against the ‘pack’ referred to in the previous chapter.
Columns are not devoted only to politics, as defined in the
narrow sense of party political affairs, but to political issues in
general. Quality newspapers will have economics columnists, social
affairs columnists and columnists dealing with ‘women’s issues’.
While these categories of journalist may not move in the same high
circles of political power as Hugo Young, Alan Watkins and the
like, their role as political actors is the same: to make sense of
complex reality for a lay-audience. They must identify important
issues, assess the arguments involved in them and relay advice to
the politicians with responsibility for taking decisions. These
columnists, too, will use politicians as sources, confidential or
otherwise, for what is written.
Some columnists are themselves former politicians or individuals
who have been closely involved in the political process, such as
Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary in the 1980s, Bernard Ingham,
who went on to work for the Daily Express. The Guardian has
employed the services of Roy Hattersley, although he writes less
frequently on politics than he does on a variety of idiosyncratic

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