The Media

Most of the time, the way in which we find out about our politics is through the media. Whether it is via the TV, press, radio or the internet, these communications technologies play a central role in enabling politicians to communicate with us, and are the main way through which we find out about the political world. However, underneath these seemingly simple statements lies a complex series of relationships between media and politics. The media are not neutral actors, nor just passive conduits uncritically relaying information to us. The main aim of the media is to make money; they do this by attracting an audience, for without an audience there would be no purpose to the media. Thus, the media engage in tactics and strategies to attract us to them — for example, by using snappy headlines or striking images. Competition both between and within different media platforms, combined with a proliferation of technologies and outlets, means that an increasing number of media are competing for a smaller share of audiences. For some, this has led to a crisis in communication where we receive, and have access to, ‘more and more information [which has] … less and less meaning’ (Baudrillard, 1983: 95).