Page 104 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

THE MEDIA AS POLITICAL ACTORS

be confused with journalism, strives to represent the people against
their leaders – impressionists with a strong political content in their
materials, such as Rory Bremner and Chris Morris, and comedians
like Ben Elton who specialise in heavily politicised stand-up
routines. Moving closer to journalism are those interviewers, such
as Clive Anderson, who employ a chat-show format, but lace it
with an element of satirical mockery of the powerful, while
Mark Thomas’ combination of stand-up comedy and investigative
journalism has frequently indulged in anti-establishment satire. 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.
British broadcasting, as has been described, is bound by strict
rules of impartiality, which inevitably constrain the extent to which
journalists can match the strongly opinionated pundits of the press.
They must be seen and heard to be scrupulously fair, balanced and
neutral, at least with regard to constitutional politicians of the
mainstream party system. We have already noted the oft-made
criticism of broadcast news for its deviations from the ideal of
‘impartiality’, and the suggestion that in reality it contains a deep
structural bias towards the status quo. Our concern here, however,
is with the broadcasters’ tendency, and legally imposed responsi-
bility in the interests of a strong and healthy democracy, not to take
sides in political disputes.
One expression of this impartiality is the broadcasters’ role as
transmitters of political discourse. The press can report what a
politician says, but the broadcasters can transmit it live, in colour.
Despite the controversy which accompanied the first live broadcasts
of Parliament, on radio and then television, it has now become an
accepted component of the British political process (Hetherington
et al., 1990; Franklin, 1992). Live transmission on the main
channels remains restricted to Prime Minister’s Question Time
and special occasions, but has gradually expanded (helped by
Sky News) into a range of ‘review’ programmes which give the
interested viewer and listener a more substantial overview of
parliamentary business.
In 1992 a consortium of British cable operators set up the
Parliamentary Channel, a non-profit service transmitting live
coverage of debates in the Houses of Commons and Lords, the
proceedings of select committees, and sessions of the European
parliament. The service was taken over by the BBC in August 1998

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