Page 25 - An Introduction to Political Communication Third Edition

POLITICS IN THE AGE OF MEDIATION

Elsewhere in the work cited above, Denton and Woodward
characterise political communication in terms of the intentions of
its senders to influence the political environment. As they put it:

the crucial factor that makes communication ‘political’ is
not the source of a message [or, we might add, referring
back to their earlier emphasis on ‘public discussion’, its
form], but its content and purpose.
(Ibid., p. 11)

This book will follow Denton and Woodward by stressing
the intentionality of political communication, which I will define
here simply as purposeful communication about politics. This
incorporates:

1 All forms of communication undertaken by politicians and other
political actors for the purpose of achieving specific objectives.
2 Communication addressed to these actors by non-politicians
such as voters and newspaper columnists.
3 Communication about these actors and their activities, as
contained in news reports, editorials, and other forms of media
discussion of politics.

In short, all political discourse is included in our definition. By
political communication, therefore, I, like Graber, have in mind not
only verbal or written statements, but also visual means of signifi-
cation such as dress, make-up, hairstyle, and logo design, i.e. all
those elements of communication which might be said to constitute
a political ‘image’ or identity.
Absent from the book (if not from our definition) is any
substantial discussion of the subject of interpersonal political
communication. It need hardly be stressed that the political
discussions of people in public bars or at dinner parties, the behind-
closed-doors negotiations of governments, and the information
gleaned by journalists from face-to-face meetings with high-level
sources, are highly significant for the political process. By their
nature, however, they are hidden from the analyst, requiring
methodologically difficult and costly empirical research to uncover
their secrets. Conducting and reporting such research is beyond the
scope of this volume. Throughout, however, we should bear in mind
the potential gap between the public and the private in political
rhetoric.

4