Taxation and Representation: Media, Political Communication and the Poll Tax (Acamedia Research Monograph)

For Jo andJack, with love: DD ForJen:PG

Taxation and Representation: The Media , Political Comm口nication and the Poll Tax David Dcacon and Pctcr Golding Department of Social Sclences, Lo U9拙。rOU9h Universi句

Da'li唯d Deacon is Lec個rerin Commu剖開位on and Media S個dies Peter Golding is Profesωr ofSo ciology and Head ofDepartment, Depar恤ent ofSocial Scienα為Loughborough University

British Library Ca個log1iing in Publica位oilDa個 Deacon, David Taxation and Representation: The Media , Poli位cal Comtnunication and the Poll Tax Acamedia Research MoIiograph: 11 I.Ti位e II. Gölding, Peter Series 336.25

Contents

m.

的BN:

0 86196 390 3 ISSN: 0956-9057

Acknowledgements Preface Chapter1

Published by John Libbey & Company Ltd, 13 Smi也sy，位d， SUínmerley Street, LondonSW18 4I罰， England. Telephonè: +44 (0)81-9472777: Fax +44 (0)81-9472664 John Libbey Eurotext Ltd, 127 rue de la Républiql趟， 92120 Montro1ige，扭曲ce. John Libbey - C.I.C. s.r.I. , via Lazzaro Spallanzani 11 , 00161 Rome, 1個ly

Citi扭由包p， éommunication and Politiês 一 The Tarnished Ideal

vi Vll

1

Chapter2

A Brief History ofthe Poll Tax

21

Chapter3

Selling Accountability: Government Promotion ofthe Community Charge

45

Chapter4

Promoting Dissent: Anti Poll T，也 Campaigr血g

71

Chapter 5

Policy Made Public: Media Coverage ofthe Community Ch訂ge

111

Chapter6

Journalis俗 and the Poll Tax

149

Chapter7

The Politics ofPolitical Communication: The Determinants and Impact ofPoll Tax News

181

Chapter8

Rethin旭ng Political Communication

199

Appendix1

Methods

205

Appendix2

Referenêes

207

Appendix3

Index

213

。 1994 John Libbey and Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Unauthorised duplica位on contravenes applicable laws.

Printed in Great Bri偵旭 byWhits組ble LithoL瓜， Whitstable, Kent, UK iv

v

Acknowledgements

The empirical rese缸ch that forms the basis of tbis book was funded by two grants from the Economic and Social Research Council (reference numbers: R000231512 and R000233523). We are gratefulωthe Council for their support and interest 旭 therese位曲， and to the anonymous referees who cons個lctively cOlÌlIDented on the grant submissions 阻.d end ofprojectreports. We would also like to thank Jo Aldridge, Natalie Fenton, Alan Brym阻， Karl Ashworth, Andrew Shaw, Julie Johnson and other colIeagues at 也e Depar個ent of Social Scien白s ， Loughborough University for their advi間，倒也個nce and support. Our thanks 曲o to Jo Wakefield for her careful transc旬tion ofthe interview草， Pe記r Beaman for his technical suppo此， Bob Fran蛤in for his steady supply of polI恤 clipp旭函， and Wendy Monk for her me位culous proofreading. 。田 fur也er

thanks to all 也ejournali喲， news editors, poli位.cians， presSnre group trade unionists, business men and women and press and publicity officers, who agreed to be interviewed for the research. Without their co-operation and candour many important elements of 也is story would have remained hidden fromview. Finally, our th叩ks to 0田 families， whose forebearance and 悶pport during the completion of tbis manuscript made the crea位.vestraine個ier 切 be且 representa卸的，

Preface

'Lo okl Quickl Wasn'tt加tapo位cy Just now? Too late. It's gone. We threw the proposer out'. Aris切pheries， The Assembly ofWomèn

D ……刑 1990 也eteform of 叫 loc叫

(0

tl') (/'

govemmentfmànce wàs one Qfthe mostnewsworthy 的picson the intetnational news agenda) Newspapers as geographicàlly diverse as Zim.babwe's Harráre Hera1d, The SöVÏet Union's Pravda and Izvest駒， France's Le Monde , Italy's La Rep的licca， Thailand's Bangkok Post and the USA's Washington Post ran lead stories on 也e issue, and in Australia Th e Melboume Age edi切rialized 世 ataxco叫d be designed to sow social dissent and e缸n unpopul缸ity for a govemment，也is is it' (3/4/90: 13). Evenmediafarremovedfrom 也e intêmâtional news agency rounds felt compelled to report the political debate it provoked. For example , down in the Falkland Islands , The PenguinNews ruminated on the political rammcations of 'a good scheme' that had been 'poòr甘 im­ plemented' (7/5/90: 12)

When the British Conservative Govemment aiJ.nounced in 1986 itS intention to replace the existing method of local domestic taxation with a new 'Community Ch缸醉， it couldn't have anticipated the controversy it w自 unleashing. Yet within fo肘 ye訂s， 'The Poll Tax' 一 as it became more publicly and pejora位vely known - had split the ruling p訂你仕om top to bottom , precipitated serious breakdowns in public order, conipro血isedthe electoral viab血ty and intemational cred晶晶ty of the Government, incited a cacophony of derision from a normally quiescent media, and brought down a Prime Ministβr who merely mönths before had been considering 扭曲直到tely postpon姐gherre位rement. Úl political tern'is alone，也e 晶晶-， 亢的nofthe Comm叫你 Charge ranks as(one ofthe most abject (ailures 姐 i British domestic history. 、_) This book charts the development of 血1s political crisis , and in p缸tic叫叮 vi

就i

T缸ation and Representation: The Media, Political Cômmu剖開tionand 也.ePolI T，坦

(心仙 ho棚w 血卸e 切協岫 … suu

Chapter 1

/

extends beyond the conten位ous issues raised by the new tax, for its imρplementation and subsequent abandonment has provideq句 invaluable

j 啊。的凶妙的呻lore bro咖p加ciples inv伽他 thec()mm叫ca位on

Citizenship, Communication, and Politics - The Tarnished Ide aI

\. and formation of public policy'; As a major fiscal rèform with impor個nt cons位tutional and political implications , the Co血munity Charge was introduced against a background of considerable opposi位.on. The Government energetically promoted the change; anq"citizens were principally dependent on the media for information aboutl~t. How did such promotion occ恥 and with what effects? What form did public discussions take and with what effect on policy forma位on? And how far did the media çater for a full public discussion of such a 血a 吋jo 肘 r legislative 恤 innovat位io9'?攻，? In 加 itωs

i|!jJb 卸叫 r叮're general ∞ mo c ont缸肘 ri跆 bu泌咐 t位ion to 0 盯 understanding 叫 0 ft晶 hesi站 g趾E 趾 c祖c 閃 eoft也 he

l…伽心旭恤血…i站蜘伽叫位伽岫削叫 C阻a叫 叫仙lc恥… agendasa 缸 repol扭it位ica 吋II蛤 y

Democracy in troubled times: on being an informed citizen

generated.

For logistical , rather than ethnocen仕ic reasons , our discussion focu.ses on the reporting ofthe Co mmunity Ch缸gein Engl祖d and Wales , rather than in Scotland - which experienced both a diffetent implementative timetable 個d intensity of media and public debate. The first chapter contextualizes /' our research within the broader debates currently active wi也M 也e fields of media sociology , social policy and political science , and outlines several conceptual models 曲的 informo盯 analysis. The second chapter provides r' a contextual overview of the history of the poll tax, and the main poli位cal issues its introduc位on raised. The third looks at the strategies employed by 也e British Governme前，趾st to promote itsEagship policy, and then to J ameliorate the political crisis it created. The fourth chapter provides a , comparative analysis ofhow opponents ofthe tax mobilized publicly. The 扭曲， provides a detailed comp缸ative analysis of national and local media coverage of the t缸， and explores how 也e terms of reference of media debate shifted as the policy cycle proceeded. The sixth chapter examines the news gathering of jo凹nalists and editors in reporting the t缸， andthe political and strategic fac切扭曲的 shaped their percep位ons. The seventh, / draws together material from preceding discussions to explain the specific fac切rs that in f1 uenced the building ofmedia agendas on the poll tax. It also explores the inf1uence of media discourses over public perceptions of the tax. The conduding chapter considers what broader inferences can be drawn from this case study of political communication. J

討ii

T 峙的ook ………… which able to take of their people 盯e

p訂t 怯 the poli位callife

society. When we 組lk of citizenship we soon a控ive at notions such 的 p叮ticipation and involvement, but above all we w血

隘的岫圳umbleacro啦 phantomof伽叫or蚓 ~itizen'~

./

Clichés about the 'information society' and the deluge of infôrmation to whichwe 缸e all subject, have become so commonplace that we sometimes lose sight of so血e simple tru也s. Democracies, even large scale cómplex democracies such as ours , in which power is exercised by the few and the remote , assu血e they 缸'e inhabitβd by informed citizens. Without some knowledge ofwhat the polity is up 妞， people cannot even begin to exercise any reasoned impact on the 可stem which govems their lives. We therefore foster an ideal ，旭 which people receive a wide range of political informa位.on， which they sift, consume and deploy in rational decision making. The outcome may be a vote, a motion at a pressure group committee meet旭g， a street riot, or a yawn of disinterest and contempt. But the informed ci位zen exercises choice on the basis of information received. The tβmpting metaphor is that of the supermarket，祖 which the votβr saunters among the shelves of ideas and policy op位。由， making shrewd calcula位ons about cost benefit balances and the comparative virtues ofthe ideological packages on offer. Trolley filled , the citizen strolls to the electoralcheck-。前， votβin hand. The problem, ifwe extend the metaphor just

1

,

T阻a位onàndRep悶enta鈍。n: The Media PO隘的問1 臼mmunication and the Poll Tax

a little furth肘， is that not everyone can get to the same store. Some can afford bigger and better-filled trolleys. The shelves 缸e f;叮 from full , and many goods somehow never make it to the front ()fthe display stands. Some 個rn out to ~ be very different (rom the glittering i扭曲 prömised on the νpackaging{ The citizen“shoppe~ is exercising choice wi也祖 ve可 d挖出ct and effectivè limits. This book is an at能mpt to chart those limits , to find out why the goods are packaged the way they 缸e， and what gets them on to the shelves. For the ideal of 也e informed ci位zen is precisely that, an ideal. An alysts have always been aw盯e， ofcour鈍， ofthe potential ofthe modern mass media to interrupt and dis的rt the flow of information from the political 叮ena to voters. It is a long 位me since we lived 祖 anyth旭g approaching the Athenian polis. But in recent years we have been increasingly alive to the limits of our ideal. There 缸'e at least two reasons for this. ,/First, we have been witnessing dramatic changes i科組組但.anJ:Ù2盟住心

I ofthe media through which poli位calinforma位onpÌim訂ilyreachβs;i.s. In

recent decades the ownership ofmajor national newspapers has continuβd ωfall in切 the hands of a small number of large corpora位ons ， frequently controlled by tycoons with uncompromising and naked political objectives alongside 也eir commercial 的pira位ons (Golding and Murdock, 1991). Several 仕ends have evolvedfrom the increasingly conglomerate character of the media. The political profile of the national press has become steadily less balanced , with a preponderance ofConservative supporting, or at least Labour oppos恆g titles that even the last Royal Commission on the Press recognized as creating a 'gap in political terms which could be filled with advantage' (cited in ibid.). The increasingly commercial and competi位ve character of 也e press has alSO fostered what some commentators iden位穹 的 'de-politicization' ， of the popular 削es especially (Curran and Seat凹， 1981: 123). Politics recedes before a rising tide ofhuman interest, showbiz related stories which transform the press 恤to an appendage of the entertainment industry in both economic andc叫turalform. Broadc部位ng， too , reflects this 仕end; 'Television in Europe thus becomes increasingly an entertainment medium' 但e Bens , Kelly and Bakke, 1992: 95). Television, as the major and increasingly prominent altemative to the newspaper as a medium for political communica位on， has also entered an age in which the 扭曲 ideals of public service broadcas位時缸e being confronted and displaced by the pressing imperatives of market driven new technologies of dis出bution (Gold坦g， forthcoming). 2

,

, ànd Politics - The Tarnished Ideal

Chap記r 1: Citizenship Communication

可/

Secondly, our ideal informed citizep. is further disadvantaged by the \growth of the ‘public relations state' ,)a. phenomenon 切 which we return shortly. Information designed to persuade is never the same 由 information passively offered as a service, and while this may naively understate the inevitably ideologïcal ch叮ac切r of anything we can sensibly c叫l'旭forma“ 位on' , it does reflect，部 we note below, a sea change in the opera位onofthe modern state.

v

For many writers within political science the anxieties and critiques im“ plicit in 也ese observations 訂e unfounded. Information flows have 恤， creased, electorates have become more sophisticated, and democracy is the rich紅的 a res叫t. Notions of 'cognitive mob也za位，on' suggest that rising levels of education have createdbetter equi即ed p石五日ations﹒ Together with the gröwth in media provision 也Ìs nourishes thβdemocra位，cprocess (Inglehart, 1977). Th間， as Dal的n argues,‘At the same time 也at the co俱Ìtive skills of Westem mass publics have improved, so too have the public'sresources ...的day there is a ne盯lyunli凶能d supply and v前ietyof political news ..., we caÍl [now] be more sanguine about fhe nature ofbelief systems 恤 co臨時叮叮 publics.' (Dalt凹， 1988: 凹， 32).

As will becomβclear throughout this book our views are far less confident. /宜'he changing nature ofthβcommunication system is count位balancedby

\._ changes 祖 the 帥部ta伽ns of citizenship~ 0盯 case s旭旬， ofthe m咖 change in local taxation introduced in Britain in 也，e 1980s, was centrally conceived by its 盯chitects旦旦an 祖itia位，ve to change the bas泌 of citizenship. At local level 也is was designed to be for 也e be此er， an 缸gument we examine in the following chapters. The poll tax arrived in the wake of considerable efforts by the ideologues of the newright to seize the moral ---., high 且至!.. and citizenship proved an attractive ba函正高高屁立泣區 dβ ，i:tte about the 怯x wound on，也is theme became an insis切nt 血0位f within the poli位cal dialogue of thβlate 1980s. 她s. Thatch肘's speech to the GeneralAssembly ofthe Church ofScotlandinMay 1988 ，恤sis臼dthat 句 'most Chris位ans would reg配d it as their personal Christian duty to help their fellow men and womβn' ， from which premise shemovedrapidlyto the 今 conclusion fhat 'intervention by thβstate must never become so great that it effectively removes personal responsibility' (see Rab間， 1989). This w的 parallelβd by influential articles by thethen Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd , in which he argued that 'the idea of active ci位zenship is a necess缸y complement to that ofthe enterpris晦 culture. Public service may once have been the duty of an 組妞， but today it is 也e responsibility of all who have

/

3

T臨ation and Represen個.tion: The Media, Poli位cal Communica位on and the Poll T臨

位me

or money to sp缸4 個肘d， 1989). The ac位.ve ci討zen was someone nurtured by the fruits of free enterprise , and happy to reinvest 也eir well deserved acquisitions 姐to reSponsible patronage of 也e less fortunate. lt W自 not al的gether surp也ing that 也e debate about the poll tax came to / adopt this language. 的Miller notes ，區血e battle over the t路 'for p缸" liamentary and public opinion the 訂guments have had to be pù.tin terms of values which 訂e more broadly sh叮'ed. These have centred largely on explicit and implicit 血odels of citizenship'. (M血er， 1989: 96). \ The citizen found herseijl constituted 祖 three very differem and confused ( '~~~e~: 如此， mdmostMdiaonally，部 informed and responsive p缸旭erto 也e state 旭 theman茍ementofthe 而梅克耐高高站在孟晶石EIZJs than encoura到時， with signs of continuous loss offai也 in the body politic, 也e fragmentation of a civic culture , and pluralist stagnation (see Topf, 少_ 1989). Second, the ci位zen was being urged to become the new....扭扭扭扭J thropic active citizen conjured up by the enthusiastic visionaries ofvolunk 、 teer welfare capitalism. The citizen 豆豆豆豆豆豆豆路 received her most 仁 authorita位ve acclamation from the Commission on the subject established by the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1988. In these terms ci也阻" ship became a target for schools in encouraging appropriate curricula , and thesumm訂y description of community voluntary work (Commission on k ci恥的峙， 1990)t Finally, we had the citizen ~s consumer,_exerting civic 令~一一一一一----power through the mechanics of the market , bullish1y clamouring for satisfaction in the glass and steel shop fronts of the town hall cus切mer service centre, citizens' 也缸terinhand. Amidst such confusion 也e 血.edia have a strategic role, enshrining and 已/ç_ promo伽g one or another面証el， labelling and evaluati時 theme恥 and 7話詢服冊商ëñ:-c而êiãf屆高豆豆 a 叫eisthepa句layed by the state as a dominant so盯ce of information and imagery which becomes the raw material for media work. And in 也at role we cannot ignore the massive expansion of the public relations state.

The rise of the public relations state All governments like to be well thought of. They pro血ote their own policies and denigrate those of oppos坦gp缸位.es as p缸t of the routine business of politicallife. Even Napoleon invested 位meandmoney 祖 m暐旭gsurethe Moniteur purveyed the right line. But in recent decades the scale and ferocity ofthis aspect ofpublic life have escalated substantially. Writing of 4

Chapter 1: CitizensWp, Communica位.on， and Poli位的明 TheT缸nished Ideal the United States , Oscar Gandy has drawn attention to the rise of the information professionals within government. ‘At every level of goverIime此， in every agency , thete 缸e information specialists whose responsib泌ty it is to ensure 也at 也enation's publicmediacarry 也e desiredmessage forward to the general public, other government 0血cials， and key corporate leaders who have a role to play in the formulation and implementation ofpublic policy' (G祖旬， 1982: 74). Gandy goes on to

缸gue

that this system works through what he terms

(‘凶orma伽叫咄es'~Th帥缸訟吋祉泌的 orm體型戶臨的帥， but

♂Tλ 正與 v'

闊的盯es 切 reducetheCost 切坦起草泣忘訴函區忌。f obtaining information they need to construct news. By making life easy for the news seekers , information managers can influence and even determine the flo W' and character of coverage about their ac位.vities in the news media. That is , obviously, the basis on which all public rela位ons and publicity work rests. In the post-w位 period in Britain it was for long assumed 曲的 politics was mo社ng

to a steady state of ideological convergence, in'which agreement about the nature ofthe goodsocietywas disturbed only by minor squabbles over its administration. This 'consens肘， or ‘ButskeUite' happy statβcame to a rude end, if it ever really existβd， wi也 the return of' conviction politics' and the launch ofthe Thatcherite project in the late 1970s. Once more government was 扭曲e business of winning he叮tsandm扭曲. The state is at the heart of the news machine. Studies of news have pereIinially plotted the dominance of items about the machinery of goverIiment and the routine drama of Wes個lnster life wi也旭 thebroad 缸rayofnews coverage. Though this has , as we noted above , declined 自 a proportion of the whole , and indeed its reduction has recently occasioned some distress among politicians (Straw, 1993) , the predominant flavour in the daily diet of the news media continues to be the whiff of political grapeshot and the odour ofWestminster's hot air. 'News prioritizes the state and its agents , treating even minor state activi位的 as inherently newsworthy, viewing agents of the sta切 as ‘reliable' sources and as interesting speakers , and portraying the visible aspects ofrelations among states' (Knight and Curt詣， 1987: 的). Of course this portrayal has its own elisions and evasions (Golding, 1981). But 也is combination of ideolo斟cal divergence and the prom垣ence of the state as an object of media attention has created the conditions for a substantial increase in public relations ac位vity by the state. 5

,

T臨ation and Represen個tion: The Media PO加叫“mmunication and the Poll T;盟

Chapter 1: Citizenship, Communication, andPolitiω 叫祖eT，缸nisb吋 Id叫

Many observers have noted the importation of the machinery and prac偏 低ces of the advertising industry into poli位cs. A new branch of this craft appears , in whatNim血o and Combs describe 扭扭‘indus仕y of experience brokers' , of'propartists' consisting of'professionalhypesters with a v前iety of specialities and s泌ls' (Nimmo and Combs , 1990: 67). That poli位cs is nowg盯landed by an app盯atus of spin doctors , 10bbyists, consultants, communication analysts , press officers, and their kin is only too familiar. The political 叮ena is a supreme1y image-conscious one. After all , as the architect of the Sun's dramatic rise rather innocent1y puts 仗， 'it is poli說， cians , rather than newspapermen, who tend to exaggerate the power ofthe press'ιamb ， 1989: 161).

a位ract subs個ntial reso叮ces. In J an.u盯y 1994 the Secretary of State for Education announced that he was 個 spend over f.2million sending a 1eaflet intoev，位yhomein 也e country giving the Governme肘， s views and advice onmorali紗， citizenship, discipline and family values. Between 1989/90 and1991/92Depar恤entofHeal血 spendi呵。n public re1ations rose from f.0.8抽血ion to f.1.49m血ion (Hansard , WA Col. 244 , 8 June 1993). A Corporate Afl'airs Intelligence Unit was estab1ishβd to seek out, and compile form恆isterial promotion , stories illustrating the success of the Government' s health service reforms. S旭過缸1y， in housin菇， f.4.5m到抽nw部 spent on public re1ations to promote the 'right to buy' policy betwëen 19"80 and 1993.

Government has become a major e月10yer of press and public re1ation.s 心j翩翩， andof 帥的隘的In 1992 HM Government spent 的 3 別扭on on advertising. Betwee叫 986 and 1991 theinc自由e 祖 its expenditure 姐 」叫做msw帥的out~er cent, and the total expenditure of 也is kind \!.I rough1y doub1ed during 也e decade. The Government's advertising budget dw缸fs that of such mega corporations as Ford, General Motors，個dPr∞" 如r and Gamb1e. Moreover the Government's figures no 10nger include privatized corporations such as British Te1ecom ( “ 6 million in 1992) or the utilities. Indeed, spending on the promotion ofprivatization initiatives formed a sig祉ficant p缸t of this publici可 efl'ort. The sell“ ofl' of the water indus佐y was supported by campaigns costing f.42 臨別io且， more 也an twice that spent on the earlier gas privatization. In May 1990 也e then Government Energy Secretary, John Wakeham , w部 appointed to c心ordi­ nate government publicity and information, and new proposa1s to give senior ministers PR 'minders' were revea1ed (Independent on Sunday , 17 June 1990). Growing politica1 protests about these deve10pments 1ed to the appointment of a public enquiry by the Nationa1 Audit Office, which showed 也e very major programmes of expenditure undertaken 旬， for examp1e the Dep盯tment of Trade and Industry on its 'Enterprise Initiative'. Perhaps the two key administrative measures , above all others, whichcame 如 symbolize the force of 也is shift 旭 government promo位on were the incorporation ofthe government statistica1 service into the super“ visory embrace of the Treasury, and the assump泣。n in 1989 by 愉S Thatcher浴缸enchant ChiefPress Secretary, Bernard Ingha血， ofthero1e of head of the Government Information Service simultaneous1y wi也 his otherduties (Ingham, 1991: 367一的; Roya1 Statis位ca1 Society, 1990).

It is in this context that we should understand the promotion of the Com-

f'í

r

The promotion of good news and radica1 policy initiatives has continued to 6

mu國ty

Charge de心cribed in t垃ss個dy. Whilethe 吧空空空空豆豆些d promo- /2.~ ~.:♂ tiona1 efl'ort inv哩哇旦出“空缸gewer色空穿白磁蛇頭f 也控股!:~ entire1y /-U ν ← consis館益tw迪金主~pd.inthe 血缸kçtingof也.e state which had been rising 區區已yb叫Go1，峙， 1990).(那poli叫 promo位on does not 吋 happen atna位onal1evel. The 10cal state has not been s10w to 1earn thβse new 肘cks. The appointment ofpublic 叫甜od蕊迋京前5師布面前話証 予函諾諾8.1 efl'orts of varying kinds has become a common feature of the 10ca1governmentscenβry﹒ The evo1ution of municipa1 newspapers, bringing the good news to every doorstep 扭曲e community, is a good indicator of this deve1opment, though，扭扭曲姐恤an.d Murphy note, they are of such recent orig姐 that they were 討rtually overlooked in the 1977 Royal Commission on the Press (fl叫 detail on this phenomenon see Franklin and Murphy, 1991: Ch. 6; Fr祖國恤， 1988). In all thes晦 ways，也en， the marke位ng of government ac位.vity has become a 臼ntralac位vity of modern statecraft. Inevitab1y the 1aunch of any major policy initiative will be devised with this app缸atus of promo位on and information management in mind. 祖旦旦旦mmu剖ty Charge became a 臼st JP? 些做些單恆星E同仁暫住把堅. We neea oriefly to assess how well equipped students of political co血munication were to understand 也is process.

o c:;

Political communication: the doub1e absence To understand the process of political communication we need to draw on the insights of both policy analysis and of media and communication rese訂'ch. Unfortunate1y both have been curious1y silent on 也e intercon7

Chapter 1: Citizenship, Communica說on， andPo加cs 且 TheT缸nished Ideal

T阻ation and Representation: The Medi訟， Po加開l Communi間越on and the Poll T缸

nection between the two. The detailed intellectual history and disciplinary evolution which explain 血is 的哩t essential to 0凹 concerns here , but we do need briefly to review them.

Perhaps the most powerful concept to be developed

Important in such a view is the understanding of policy as a process 函ta product, and that insight releases the potential ('~ such traditions of policy ana蟑螂 as 加plementation 也eory and incrementalis哩d Each of them，恤 prac位ce， however, retains the sense of this process evolving within an 'environment' , which contains t l!e economic and social s仕uctures of the wider society beyond the polity ~ Our focus in this book is 0的h已medi~ 個d 也可 forma cruci刮過art of this èÌìì忱。mp9.Indeedwe d再叫起倒 也叮叮'e inherently p缸t of the modern policy process , which is inconceivable without the rhetorical and publicity app缸atus ofpoli位cal communication. Thus to devolve so much of the essential character of the po垃位cal process to a residual category of actions in the 'environment' is 拍 miss much ofthe core ofwhat determines and shapes policy. It is s凶Is凹prising how minimal an appe前ance the media and communications make in many policy analyses , and even where they do it is organizational communication rather than media communication which dominates (Nixon, 1980).

same 拋tiI加 me 血 med 社品曲 ia st仇 1叫 the rol抬e of 知 j O盯nali諂sm and the careful and 叫 cri位伽 ca 叫1 analysis of the symbolic world of media out句pu 叫t. Where it has been inclined to address politics it has remained resolutely 'media-cen仗ic' ， rarely drawing on the research and theory available within political sociology or policy analysis.

J

The notion ofpri血ary definition was formulated by Hall and his colleagues in 也祉 analysis of news coverage of ‘mugging' (Ha11 et a1., 1978). Dominant forces in society do not dictate directly the tβ:rms and vocabulary of news coverage , either conspiratorially or by dictat. They 缸'e able , however, through the s仕uctures of news production , to ensure that news reflects the interests of也e powerful. This reproduction , in 也e last instance, does not ignore the real autonomy ofnews producers. But because ofthe importance of accredited sources with authority to defme news salience and form , and the unavoidable exigencies and speed of routine news production，也e news process produces 'a systematically structured overaccessing to the media of those in powerful and privileged posi位ons. The media thus tend , faithfully and impartially, to reproduce symbolica11Ythe e油加g struc個reofpower 祖 society's institutional order' (ibi d.: 58). The media thus become secondary defme間， dependent on the hegemonic defming power of accredited sources , the representatives ofm吋or social ins位徊，

studies frequentlý pay lip service ~o the impo此ance of the media and communications. In p甜詢問， howeVér , this emerges only in cursory reference to 血e role ofthe media , especia11y as witness to the recurrentand playful cI ash of pressure groups wi血也.e poli位cal system/Most policy analysis finds its roots , implicitly if not explic設旬， in 也e 誼nd of systemic model developed, cIassical跡， by writers like David Easton 徊的恤， 1965). In this model the policy process becomes ，的 use the familiar metaphor, a black box, which produces ou句uts in the form of decisions and actions. Into the black box go inputs in 也e form of demands ànd supports, either as votes , payment of taxes , and obedience, or al臼rnatively as dissent, pressure and articulatβd cI aims. While it is not diffic叫t to develop a critique of functionalist models of this 垣nd， even盲refmed and moderated f()rm they underpin a large number of policy analyses.

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becauseof 血eir élite status

Political specialists: 'The big issues, local government wise' 'Good Lo rdl 1 don't really get 姐volved in local government, p缸位cu­ not terribly much. 1 do the big issues , local government wise …My function around here is to report what the government of the day does , what 也eopposi位on say, and that sort ofthing' (Political editor, na位onal newspaper).

l缸ly.lme凹，

(叭叭… pondents in th心 flected contemporaneous domestic po加cal developments, t區區石l出己吋 崢訴五再示 M d 恤s切伽E叮 yof 句p s 伊 恥 eci 叫stp 仰 oli 岫位叫 C ∞ 仰叫 O rres 叮間 昀呻 spo 叫 nd 伽 削 m 蚓tp 仰叫 s咐 ts 間的 t聖賢些型壁壘堅堅堅!!J>f

the Bri位sh mass media with the le到slatureyD凹的 Britain's highly cen----:函區區后示tlcâlsy正正正函國聶哥示:戶口dents are first and foremost ( parliamentary correspondents) (This principle generally applies even where -local media have their own specialist designated political correspondent, or where a political correspondent is 'pooled' amongst a collective group on local newspapers.) The first political correspondents were gallery reporters , who observed and recorded parliamentary debates and governmental decisio研making. However , over time , interest increased in generating a 'b~坦dthe:哩星空nes' understanding ofparlia血βntary processes and decision削making that could ----oIiIy "beprovided by journalists having more direct and informal acce單 to 156

Lobby correspondents' .reporting of the Community Ch前ge was informed by a very different range of sources from those used by local government correspondents. Their privileged but cloistered e油tence meant they were princ句ally dependent on governme1!t al and p訂ty poli位Cal sources 恤 repor出g the tãi, and苗苗苗只CCãslûri8.ï兩制論日ther茄滔alnews so叮ces， such as the local站在õritÿãssôè1漏斗~The'ñ滔滔丘吉已這首面証 ~五百lI1益主c newsbeat was not exceptional , but ra也er indicative of the 仕a祉， tional parochialism of the parliamentary specialists (Tunstall, 1970). When their contacts were broadened, it was generally because a nonP缸liamentary political source had brought their argument to Parliame肘， often with the support of an MP: """'--心自由-一切叫“--明自悟--

'[The Anti Poll Tax Federation] had good solid links with Dave Nellist and a couple of Merseyside MPs and 8cot M恥， so they got the opportunity of getting in …People like [8teve] Nally and Tommy 8heridan came in and gave press conferences in the House to 郎， to the likes of 郎， (Political correspondent). One particularly important element 姐 their repor位ng was their opportaw onc些也坐史性些世控迦單如 inform their pol出ca1r analyses. Not surprising旬，。也er specialis的 werevecy:且即以lS ofthe privi- \v leged access lobby correspondents had to the legislature , reω函血gthat \ it providec( unique insight)into the evolving political debate: / ，~ 阻MWto

a

\ /

157

Taxation and Representation: The Media, Poli位cal Commnnication and the Poll Tax

Chapter 6:

'There 缸e

difIerences between my posi位on and the more privileged of a lobby correspondent oJ. a political correspondent, who is f actually 扭曲e lobby, has access td 囚ep盯ties at closer hand, who can get ofI the rec叫叫哥凶叫at. 1 mean , 1 feel 1 ought 帥的血的 in '\ asense , because I'mmissing out. Ihave 切 go ofI the back of something coming from the lobby, ra也erthange組ng it myself. But that' s just the way the system works' 扎ocal government correspondent).

‘One could never persuade them to explain the problems of 也ea叫個 lect晶晶旬，

for example. They didn't think that was important. Unfairness? They could get a hold of that' (Conservative MP , interview with authors).

,0)

As explained in Chapter 丸 thelo空空y briefings were 0叫yr缸elyused to ease the introduction of the 個玖姐d when1n茍 were itwas m訟nly_使主空空空一

8econd， becaus~t恆地sreg叫 forth~空空姐到些世血~_!gpic. poli位c叫九 correspondent(!已wtheissue 嬰 far less problematic and complex to report 戶 than the local government specialists:jAs one poli位cal editor put it: \

、_b~~J~瞎想β伽. Howev訊 dudRF峙的ERZEfpm空空~ry:悍的alua­ ~些竺些Eiofs， thesebrie1月s assume~)l c楞住吧， role，坡 all叫臂，聽ÏI!!Sters

reform op ti,dns for their

bro時r poli做些些學t-

'The thing about Mrs Thatch缸， she did explain things , extremely succinctly. 8he could actually say the poll tax is about ma姐ngs肘e 也at everyone who can pays towards the services that 也ey use. That ./ W由 how she would se盟 iç. Which is a fairly simple concept. And Labour's concept, the oppósi位on's concept w路 verÿ much it is unfair and is unworkable. 80 once you've got those tw姐 sort of concepts it's actually quite straigh旺orward.'

的也可.

6

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The main significance of the 'behind the scenes' access of lobby co甘心 spondents prior to 血et紹's introduc位on 坦 England and Wales was in ( sensi位sing news organ崗位ons tb the extent of dissent wi也in Conservative 'r anks. Many l!?ck_þ~Il，ch Co~ervat!y:e MPs gply ‘went public' with the廿 criticism安 once the political crisis had escalated out ofthe Government's ld been_[rivately co甲醇unicating_!:~空空空旦旦虫91 onsiderahlÿïõñg叮perio誼通亟區也~all~ dents who were

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This narrow but pr!JQl eged news gathering had a direct efIect on th耐 / J L" j ~βport旭g of the taxi First旬， they experienced greater difficulties in dealing /仙JHcryμwith the more arca占 a恥cts oflocal 缸lance. Ir的ed，叫e叫 ofthemost ":fN' r _~音 。-一一~，. 汁\ι>:r ~'V ;", ~7 prominent parliamentary figures involved in the debate were highly criti\,_' )快" calofhow、sinformed several senior political correspondents were about some of its-most crucial aspects: 二 Jl;

'Local govemment fmance is a minefield. It's such a technical area that many people shy away ... 1 understand that. But the media ob討ously take that view as well. We've had great êlimculties with people like [NationalτV Political Correspondent] who s凶plycan些少derstand anything to do with local government finance …Because üyou've got to spend an hour eve可位me explaining the most minute point 個 a journali仗. you actually lose the ability to respond qUickly , to get across

and the Poll T;盟

a wider message , and that has been a genuine problem' (Oþposition local govemment spokesperson , interview with authors).

posi位on

向全二巨型向電 various

Journ叫ists

0

ß 叮叮/

finance. One implication of this , was that their a仗en位on to the issue w部 V

Ö'a r more tr豆豆豆i凹的han the local government speciaUsts. They discovered the issue 扭捏些~its legi如ive timetable , and bec堅堅h空空 withitfi盯 sooner, once the Conservative leadership issue had been resolved, and the Tory rebellions assuaged. Finally, the percep位ons and newsgathering activi位，es of 也盟的扭扭捏~\

一兵也型叫:s exerted a powerful 哩些豆豆豆 over the 里暫且豆豆豆堅但也~l

(their news organizations towards the issu,è . The fact that allnational media had specialist political corresponden鉤， even üthey had few other designations , reveals the higher status of this specialist field compared with others (Tunstall, 1970). And whereas severallocal govern血ent correspondents complained about the dissonance between their interest in the tax and the 1 general news agenda oftheir organizations - particularly during early and later stages of the policy~cycle - political correspondents experienced no equivalent frustrations(Indeed，切 a large extent, it was their reading ofthe political salience of thè issue that determined the broader newsroom

~

/

158

/

159

hxation and Representation: The Media, Political 臼mmunication and the Poll Tax

Chapter 6:

p

agenda. In other words , the, po姐說cal specialists 也主he 旭terpretative framew叫 wi恤 which local government corresponden的 had 切 W叮叮

的ted

in recording p訂ty poli位cal responses 切 the policy. Furthermore, although both types of correspondents revealed a similar degree ofinterest 恆 the effects of the policy , for the political specialists these were almost exclusively construed in electoral termJo whereas local government co虹b spondents presented them in broader terms (e.g. 'w旭ners and losers' and service provision).

vReporting 蝴叫ons It is important to consider whether the manifest differences between specialists 姐 their newsgathering on this issue had any impact on their report旭g. As Negrine notes, one ofthe most neglected aspects in a dearth of research into journalistic specialization is ‘the relationship between the designa的onandtheendproduct' (1993: 3).

Table 6.2. Themes in specialist correspondent coverage on TV and radio news (1 March - 5 May 1990)

Table 6.1(Actors feature,din specialist corr吻。ndent authorized items in national TV & radio news (1 M位ch 也 5 May1990)

Politlcal

~.

Parliamentary/government actors

"----'印曲曲。路一

Local government officers Local government assoclatlo吋ressure

groups Oplnion poJlsoors and 0也.errese訂'ch

specialists

%

%

93 22

71

f、IE

1是

3 22 15

Number ofiOOms

(153)

{住8)

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%

%

Origlns

6

% 6 16 13 13

Number of themes coded

speclalists

11 4 31 「的

_47

2

,

éõì '141

361

Flgures relaOO to news 閥d feature IOOms 旭 pollt阻 IOOms [related and 僻的ed]. Up to four 也emω ∞叫d be coded for each 100m. Percentages 言 frequency of appearance/aggregate of them的 coded (aJl fi訊rres 訂'e rounded). Perceptions ofnews 甜甜'ce credibility 的 ournalist contact with news sources differed locally and nationally，個d betweenp缸ticul訂 types of correspondents, how did journalists generally

view the performance and credibility ofthe ma恤阱。旭ganists in the poli品 cal debate? As Tuchman (1978) observes, the perceived credib也可 of a /news source ~ cru 叫 1 、 This section is divided 祖 intωo 枷 two， and begins by looking at journalistic perceptions of the credibility of key ‘advocates' in the debate. It then identifies who journalists elected as 也V盯biters' ofthis policy debate.

Flgures relate to news 阻d feature iOOms [p oll t阻 related 也d focused]. Percentages 話也e percentage ofiooms authored whlch feature at least one actor under each category. The p仗的ntages 訂'esep訂aOO and do not add up to 100. Our study revealed cle缸 differences in how specialist corr(jspondents reported the poll tax , particularly in television news repor位ng!-Reflβctingthe distinctive news gathering of both specialisms, news stories by poli位cal speciali暫時前例 anarrow叮 rang障。fpolitical viβwsthanlo站滸鼠"

Loc al government

忍ll'ects

4 19

Other voluntary sector groups Unions General public Other (e.g. other professlonals. journ到ists)

Antlpoll 純正 groups

Poli位cal 帶ecl祉ists

vM能rnatlvesωtaxlexplanatlons

~一

10 4 4 2 2 23 23

Buslness 阻.dbus泌的sfederatlo凶

Themes related to:

Governmentlparliament decislon-maklng Lo calgov前2血ent Implementatlon Responses

Lo cal government

speci叫ists

Journalis臼 and the PolI T阻

Advocates v'

的 weoutlined 旭 Chapter 11:.之豆豆到豆豆~are

those news sources who 缸e recognized by 血e news media as having an overt Í1J.~rest in a politic~ vrocess~世gy.tcome. As a controversial policy with far reachiIig ramificatio肘， the Co mmunity Charge excited a diverse range of opinions from a considerable v缸iety of poli位cal sources. However, our content analysis has shown that 也e(main protaganists 垣血edia coverage were the two

‘

。

一一句自由一一一-:--.一一一呵呵自/

6.1). By doing so ，也ey also emphasized different themes in their repo此恤g

local government corr四pondents spent more 位me repor位ng 的pects of central government dβcision-making and local imple血entation of the reforms , politiβal correspondents were more inter(see Table 6.2).

160

Where訟s

161

Taxation and Representation: The Media, PO益的cal Communi闊前on and the Poll Tax

Chapter 6: Journalists and the Poll Tax

main political p前說es (whether nationally or 10cally). In this section we open this point up a litt1e fur也缸， by 100king at how journalists assessed the performance of these key advocates in the political debate, and what fac的rs were seen to have increased or undermïned their salience or credibility. Because ofthe strong 1inks between 'maverick' Labour ac位vistsand externa1 campaign groups , we also comp缸'ejo盯ualis位cpercep位onsofthe credib血ty and significance ofthe an位 poll tax move血ent.

。也er

v