Page 183 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

COMMUNICATING POLITICS

Lobby briefings were no longer entirely anonymous, but could be
attributed to Campbell, as Blair’s official spokesman. Lobby
journalists and political commentators have generally welcomed
these changes and others such as the introduction of prime
ministerial press briefings. For example, on 4 September 2002 Tony
Blair used such an occasion to communicate to an international
audience UK policy on Iraq.
More worryingly for some, Campbell brought his aggressive style
of news management from opposition – where it was used to great
effect to woo the hitherto Tory press (see Chapter 4) – into govern-
ment where, as in the Thatcher–Ingham years, it was as likely to be
used against Labour ministers as opposition politicians or the BBC.
Regarding his regular spats with the latter organisation, Campbell
wrote in a 1997 article that ‘the media is aggressive and it often
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requires aggressive argument in return’. In this respect he proved a
more than worthy successor to Sir Bernard in his rough handling of
the journalists.

Further reading

Lively accounts of New Labour’s approach to political public
relations can be found in Nicholas Jones’ Soundbites and
Spin Doctors (1995), Campaign 97 (1997) and Campaign
2001 (2001). US media consultant Dick Morris’ account of
his work for the Clinton administration is set out in Behind
the Oval Office (1997).

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