Tough on Soundbites, Tough on the Causes of Soundbites

By Bob Franklin.

Catalyst pamphlet 3.
Published: May 1998
ISBN: 09533224 2 4
Paperback 24 pages

From the day of its election victory, it has been clear that New Labour intended to develop the presentational emphasis that had served it so well in opposition. This was not simply habit. New Labour is perhaps the first government genuinely committed to the view that presentation is part of the process of policy formation. This could well change the nature of British democracy.

Using exclusive private interviews with senior Whitehall civil servants – mainly those working in the Government Information Service (GIS) – Bob Franklin examines New Labour’s extended honeymoon with the press and its vigorous policy of news management – spin doctoring.

The news management system extends beyond party press officers into the GIS, part of the supposedly non-partisan civil service. Existing departmental Heads of Information have been replaced by new appointees expected to be more energetic in pushing the government agenda. Almost twice as many special advisors have been appointed in the first six months of the new administration as were appointed during John Major’s term of office. This almost inevitably leads to a blurring of boundaries between government and party interests, between information and propaganda. This process, if unchecked, has serious implications for democracy.

A number of measures to counter these effects should be considered, including televising press briefings by the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary, subjecting political appointees to the same code of conduct as civil service members of the GIS and increasing journalistic independence through the creation of an Independent Press Authority.

Bob Franklin is Reader in Media and Communications at Sheffield University. Among his other publications are Packaging Politics, Newzak and News Media and Televising Democracies.

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