Page 13 - The Professionalisation of Political Communication Chaning Media, Changing Europe Volume 3

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10 | THE PROFESSIONALISM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

changes within the political system.These developments do not only reflect a changing
media environment but also changes in the standing of the political parties within the
political system as a whole. Professionalisation, in other words, focuses on the mutual
developments and changes; it also reflects the convergences as well as
interdependencies between the political and communication systems.

It would thus be a mistake to consider the process of professionalisation in the context
of political communication only, or mainly, as above. Our argument is that processes of
professionalisation take place in all walks of life as individuals and groups develop
practices that are deemed better, or an improvement on, earlier practices and then
apply them to particular contexts. Pollsters, for instance, constantly improve their skills
for measuring public opinion; advertisers continually update practices; those in the
business of communications – PR, marketing, etc. – constantly review and learn new
skills, and so on. At each stage, individuals are improving their skills or, in common
parlance, becoming more professional at what they are doing. Unlike the case of the
traditional professions of medicine and law where one is either a professional or not, in
the range of occupations surrounding the arts of communications – advertising, PR,
marketing, etc. – there is a more continuous process of development and application in
order to remain at the cutting edge of change.

In this much broader context,processes of professionalisation are not in evidence simply in
relation to political communication,but are a feature of modernisation itself.Consequently,
it is a process that is not related to particular eras or technologies but is part of a much
longer historical process of change. The importance of this point becomes apparent, as
Chapter 2 shows, when we begin to consider the points at which political parties begin to
use professionals to help them achieve their objectives of election success.
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
Often, as we shall see, political parties have turned to outsiders to help them run their
campaigns or organisations. These would have been individuals, usually politically
sympathetic individuals, who turned their skills to party political use. Advertisers,
polling experts, film experts form such a group: individuals brought in to improve the
strategies and tactics of the political parties. Such outsiders form only one of many
types of individuals that have been used and only one of many different ways in which
the process of professionalisation has impacted on political communication.

Outsiders entering an organisation offer a simple example of a process of
professionalisation,but sometimes the change takes place from within.Outsiders might
act as volunteers or might be employed for a temporary period, but professionals (e.g.
journalists, managers) may be employed permanently by a political party and then use
their skills to modernise and professionalise the party from within. Similarly,
professionals often advise politicians on how to improve their communication skills or
demeanour, but politicians, in due course, internalise those skills and might employ
them within other contexts and use them to advise others. This relates to a more
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