Page 161 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

COMMUNICATING POLITICS

Figure 7.1 Labour’s defence policy.
Source: Reproduced courtesy of Conservative Central Office.

Less prone to error but equally useful in attracting and holding
media attention on a politician or organisation are those types of
activity which fall into the category of ‘pseudo-event’ described in
Chapter 2. The pseudo-event, it was noted there, is a ‘happening’
which bears only a tenuous relation to political reality. It has
meaning in and of itself, primarily as a media event. Some would
argue that the debate and interview-type events discussed above
often fall into this category, since there is clearly something rather
artificial and manufactured about the ways in which participants

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