Page 165 - The Professionalisation of Political Communication Chaning Media, Changing Europe Volume 3

Political Communication.qxd 12/7/06 7:30 pm Page 162
Political Communication.qxd 5/1/07 15:06 Page 164

162 | THE PROFESSIONALISM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

political transition undoubtedly necessitated a reliable presentation of the various
alternative perspectives in the media, and the personal engagement of the journalists
seemed to be the most trustworthy.

In parallel with the political changes, the media landscape was also transformed when
the press was privatised in 1990. Attempts to transform the state radio and broadcast
system into a public service system proved troublesome and, in one way or another, the
independence of public service broadcasting has not been realised, nor have the
standards of professionalism in public service broadcasting been developed.

In 1996 commercial radio and television services were introduced. The privatisation
contributed to creating a more ‘Western style’ professional journalism and it gave rise
to a printed press – and later a commercial electronic media – that was much more
independent of politics and politicians. The criteria of newsworthiness in the
commercial media were certainly different from those of the state owned or public
service media. Nevertheless, not a single attempt was made to share radio and
television channels between the different political parties (first the state, later the so-
called public service). Between 1998 and 2002 the right-wing government actively
contributed to the development and establishment of newspapers and journals with
right-wing orientation. In 2002, the right-wing political forces founded the first
private news television cable channel. As a consequence, there is today (2005) a
range of viable media outlets with a right-wing bias that act as a ‘balance’ to the
other media outlets that continue to be accused, by the right-wing, liberal and
socialist bias.

In summary, the tense relationships between the different media and politics were
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
rather the consequence of the circumstances of the political transition and of the
national and international developments of the media system itself and it was not a
system copied from the outside. Certain special elements of the mediatisation of
politics used all over the world seem to have spread with the media technology and the
internationalisation of the media. In this process, successful techniques of political
communication and campaigning in western democracies received more attention and
were more likely to be adopted in Hungary.This is discussed below.

PROFESSIONALISATION OF COMMUNICATION – THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC OPINION POLL,
POLLSTERS AND ADVISORS
Certain forms of political public opinion research began in Hungary in the early 1970s
as part of the activity of the Mass Communication Research Centre. Surveys provided
the party with feedback about the public’s perceptions and reaction to important
political events and decisions, e.g. concerning price rises, or current international events
such as the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The party did not influence the methodology or
the assessment of the results of the research, but the results were not widely published,
which was a significant advantage to those in power. The methodology used was
164