Political Communications: The General Election Campaign of 1992

The results of British elections depend increasingly on what happens during the intensive four-week campaign, a period shaped not simply by what politicians do and say, but by how it is reported to the public through the mass media. This book, the fourth such collection on each election since 1979, examines the dialogue conducted via the press, television and the opinion polls between politicians and the people in the 1992 campaign. A mixture of academic research, expert experience and personal reflection, the chapters are written not only by academic scholars, but by professionals from the worlds of television, newspapers, polling and party organisation. The book will be of great interest not only to academic political scientists, but to politicians, journalists, market researchers and party workers - indeed, to all with an active interest in elections and the mass media in Britain.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Ivor Crewe and Brian Gosschalk; Part I. The Politicians: 1. The Conservative campaign: against the odds John Wakeham; 2. The Liberal Democrats' campaign Richard Holme; 3. The Labour campaign Robin Cook; Part II. The Strategists: 4. The Conservative Party's strategy Shaun Woodward; 5. The Labour Party's strategy David Hill; 6. The Liberal Democrats' strategy Des Wilson; Part III. The Campaign on Television: 7. The parties and television Richard Tait; 8. Struggles for meaningful election communication: television journalism at the BBC, 1992 Jay G. Blumler, Michael Gurevitch and T. J. Nossiter; 9. Old values versus news values: the British 1992 general election campaign on television T. J. Nossiter, Margaret Scammell and Holli A. Semetko; 10. People metering: scientific research or clapometer? John Rentoul, Nick Robinson and Simon Braunholtz; Part IV. The Campaign in the Press: 11. 'Fact is free but comment is sacred'; or, Was it The Sun wot won it? David McKie; 12. Characters and assassinations: portrayals of John Major and Neil Kinnock in The Daily Mirror and The Sun Colin Seymour-Ure and Sandra Scott; 13. Failing to set the agenda: the role of election press conferences in 1992 Dennis Kavanagh and Brian Gosschalk; Part V. The Opinion Polls in the Campaign: 14. The polls and the 1992 general election Robert Waller; 15. The use of panel studies in British general elections Robert M. Worcester and Ivan Fallon; 16. Forecasting the 1992 election: the BBC experience John Curtice and Clive Payne; 17. The ITN exit poll Glyn Matthias and David Cowling; 18. The impact of the 1992 general election on the image of public opinion surveys Robert J. Wybrow; Part VI. Reflections: 19. Majorspeak: observations on the Prime Minister's style of speaking Max Atkinson.