The main political parties' adoption of ‘soundbites’ and ‘spin-doctors’ has led UK political communication to become dominated by a ‘promotional culture’. This article describes the historical development of this trend and the academic debate it has stimulated over the ‘quality’ of contemporary political communication. The article then argues that by exploring how pressure groups have adopted similar promotional techniques a valuable new dimension can be added to this debate, which focuses on the ability to gain access to media coverage. Finally, this point is illustrated with a case study of Liberty, a civil liberties pressure group.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldermanG. (1984), Pressure Groups and Government in Great Britain. Harlow: Longman.
2.
BaggottR. (1992), ‘The Measurement of Change in Pressure Group Politics’, Talking Politics, 5(1).
3.
BaggottR. (1995), Pressure Groups Today. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
4.
BlumlerJ.GurevitchM. (1995), The Crisis of Public Communication. London: Routledge.
5.
ButlerD.KavanaghD. (1992), The British General Election of 1992. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
6.
CoxallW. (1986), Political Realities: Parties and Pressure Groups. Harlow, Longman.
7.
DunleavyP.HusbandsC. (1985), British Democracy at the Crossroads. London: Allen & Unwin.
8.
EldridgeJ, (ed.) (1995), Glasgow Media Group Reader, Volume 1: News Content, Language and Visuals. London: Routledge.
9.
FieldF. (1982), Poverty and Politics. London: Heinemann.
10.
FranklinB, (1994), Packaging Politics: Political Communications in Britain's Media Democracy. London: Edward Arnold.
11.
GoldenbergE. (1984), ‘Prerequisites for Access to the Press’ in GraberD.A. (ed) Media Power in Politics. Washington DC: CQ Press.
12.
GrantW. (1995), Pressure Groups, Politics and Democracy in Britain. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
13.
HallS.CricherC.JeffersonT.ClarkJ.RobertsB. (1978), Policing the Crisis: Mugging the State and Law and Order. London: Macmillan.
HarropM. (1990), ‘Political Marketing’, Parliamentary Affairs, 43 (3) pp. 277–291.
16.
LintonM. (1986), ‘Political Parties and the Press in the 1983 Campaign’ pp.150–159 in CreweI.HarropM. (eds.) Political Communications: The General Election Campaign of 1983. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
17.
Liberty (1995a), Annual Review. Norwich: Crowes.
18.
Liberty (1995b), Press Release: ‘Photos on driving licences may be I-D card scheme by the back door, Liberty warns motorists’, Unpublished.
19.
Liberty (1995c), Press Release: ‘I-D card scheme -a solution looking for a problem’, claims Liberty’, Unpublished.
20.
Liberty (1996a), Liberty Campaign Plans, April 96 -October 97: Explanatory Notes, Unpublished.
21.
Liberty (1996b), Press Release: ‘Target sex offenders proposals more narrowly, say human rights groups and children's rights organisations’, Unpublished.
22.
LoweP.GoyderJ. (1983), Environmental Groups in Politics. London: Allen & Unwin.
23.
NicholasH. (1951), The British General Election of 1950. London: Macmillan.
24.
ScammellM. (1995), Designer Politics: How Elections are Won. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
25.
SchlesingerP. (1989), ‘Rethinking the Sociology of Journalism: Source Strategies and the Limits of Media Centrism’ pp. 61–83 in FergusonM, (ed.) Public Communication: The new imperatives: Future directions for media research. London: Sage.
26.
ShortC. (1996), ‘Interview: Claire Short’, New Statesman and Society, 125 (4296) pp.24–26.
