Introduction to Political Communication and Concepts PDF

AEN2103 Introduction to political communication and concepts NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS  Learning Objectives Learn the concept of political communication Learn the range of political actors involved in communication. AEN2103 Introduction - What is Pol...

AEN2103 Introduction to political communication and concepts NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS  Learning Objectives Learn the concept of political communication Learn the range of political actors involved in communication. AEN2103 Introduction - What is Political Communication? 01 THE TERM POLITICAL COMMUNICATION IS DIFFICULT TO DEFINE, SIMPLY BECAUSE THE PHRASE ARE OPEN TO A VARIETY OF DEFINITIONS. 02 DENTON AND WOODWARD (1990, P. 14) PROVIDE ONE DEFINITION OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AS: “PURE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE ALLOCATION OF PUBLIC RESOURCES (REVENUES), OFFICIAL AUTHORITY (WHO IS GIVEN THE POWER TO MAKE LEGAL, LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE DECISION), AND OFFICIAL SANCTIONS (WHAT THE STATE REWARDS OR PUNISHES)”. What is Political Communication? Denton and Woodward (1990, p. 11) characterise political communication in terms of the intentions of its senders to influence the political environment: “the crucial factor that makes communication ‘political’ is not the source of a message [or, we might add, referring back to their earlier emphasis on ‘public discussion’, its form], but its content and purpose.”  What is Political Communication? Brian McNair (2018) follows Denton and Woodward (1990) by stressing the intentionality of political communication, which he defines simply as purposeful communication about politics. This incorporates: All forms of communication undertaken by politicians and other political 1 actors for the purpose of achieving specific objectives. Communication addressed to these actors by non-politicians such as 2 voters and newspaper columnists Communication about these actors and their activities, as contained in 3 news reports, editorials, and other forms of media discussion of politics.  What is Political Communication? By political communication, it means not only verbal or written statements, but also visual means of signification such as dress, make-up, hairstyle, and logo design, such as all those elements of communication which might be said to constitute a political ‘image’ or identity.  Elements of Political Communication The study of political communication is based on the relationship between three elements. They are: Political Organisations (political parties, public organisations, 01 pressure groups and terrorist organisations) 02 The audience 03 The Media Elements of Political Communication  POLITICAL ORGANISATION = POLITICAL ACTORS Political organisations consist of political actors,: those individuals who aspire, through organisational and institutional means, to influence the decision-making process They may seek to do this by attaining institutional political power, in government or constituent assemblies, through which preferred policies can be implemented. (becoming politicians) Political Organisations = Political parties Political parties - "aggregates of more or less like-minded individuals, who come together within an agreed organisational and ideological structure to pursue common goals. " These goals will reflect the party’s underlying value system, or ideology. Can you name political parties in Malaysia? What are their goals or ideology? Political Organisations = political parties Despite the ideological differences which may exist between political parties in modern democracies, they share a commitment to constitutional means of advancing their objectives, attempting to convince a population as a whole of their correctness, and putting their policies to the test of periodic elections. Once mandated (or rejected, as the case may be) they agree to abide by the constitutional rules of the political system in which they operate, respecting the limitations it puts on their power to implement or oppose policy, until such time as another electoral opportunity comes along. Political parties - how to get people to vote for them? Primarily on their ability to communicate with those who will vote for and legitimise them. Many communication strategies and tactics which have been developed by political parties to communicate with those who will vote for them. The strategies are: MARKETING Similar to commercial marketing, political organisations must target audiences from whom (electoral) support is sought, using channels of communication, in a competitive environment where the citizen/consumer has a choice between more than one ‘brand’ of product. Political parties measure success not in terms of profit but in voting share and effective power. However, political marketing still employs many of the principles applied by the manufacturers of goods and services as they strive for commercial success Political parties - how to get people to vote for them? (cont...) Communication strategies of political parties: POLITICAL ADVERTISING Political advertising is also founded on principles originally worked out by the business sector to exploit the presumed persuasive potential of mass media. This form of political communication uses mass media to ‘differentiate’ political products (i.e. parties and candidates) and give them meaning for the ‘consumer’. Political parties - how to get people to vote for them? (cont...) Communication strategies of political parties: PUBLIC RELATIONS Public relations – media and information management tactics designed to ensure that a party receives maximum favourable publicity, and the minimum of negative. Activities covered by the rubric of ‘public relations’ include: 1. Proactive devices such as party conferences which, to attract positive media coverage of an organisation; news conferences, which permit parties to (attempt to) set political agendas, particularly during election campaigns; and the employment of image managers to design a party’s (and its public leaders’) ‘look’. 2. Reactive political public relations techniques, in which parties strive for damage-limitation, include the lobbying of journalists, the ‘spinning’ of potentially damaging stories, and the suppressing of potentially damaging information. WHO IS SPIN DOCTOR? The design and execution of political communication for political parties/ political actors is carried out by media or political consultants, image-managers, ‘spindoctors’, and ‘gurus’ – which has emerged in the course of the twentieth century and is now routinely employed by political parties all over the democratic world.  Political Organisation = Public organisations Surrounding the established institutions of politics are non-party organisations with political objectives. HINDRAF, BERSIH, Peace Malaysia, Jaringan Pertubuhan Melayu Malaysia are some of the examples of non-party organisations. List of NGO in Malaysia -http://www.mycen.com.my/malaysia/ngo.html Greater emphasis on sustainable development — Group of 16 NGOs http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/greater-emphasis-on- sustainable-development-group-of-16-ngos#O1MqyuotmQfbikYW.99  Pressure groups PUBLIC ORGANISATION Trade unions, consumer groups, professional The terrorist/ associations and others may fundamentalist be defined as public organization organisations. Public organisations- Trade Unions/ consumer groups etc Trade unions, consumer groups, professional associations and others may be defined as public organisations. They are united not by ideology but by some common feature of their members’ situation such as work problems (trade unions), or the weakness of the individual citizen in the face of large corporations (consumer groups). Corporations themselves engage regularly in political communication, or lobbying, designed to influence governmental decision-makers. In such organisations individuals come together not just to help each other in the resolution of practical problems associated with their common situation, but to campaign for change or to raise the public profile of a particular problem, often through enlisting the help of elected politicians. These organisations have, to a greater or lesser degree, institutional status and public legitimacy, as reflected in their access to policy-makers and media, receipt of charitable donations, and official funding. Public organisations- Pressure groups Pressure groups - Pressure groups may be distinguished from the public organisations listed above in that they are typically less institutionalised and more overtly ‘political’ in their objectives. Pressure group politics, like that of parties and public organisations, are largely about communication, using the variety of advertising and public relations techniques now available. These group are frequently deprived of the financial and status resources and must therefore devise less expensive means of communicating their political messages, such as symbolic forms of protest and ‘spectaculars’ designed to attract the attention of journalists. Example - The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections or Bersih (meaning clean in Malay) is a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which seeks to reform the current electoral system in Malaysia to ensure free, clean and fair elections Public organisations- Terrorist/ fundamentalist The third category of non-party political actor is the terrorist organization. The term here to refer to groups which use terror tactics – urban bombing, hi-jacking, assassination, and kidnapping, to list the most common – to achieve their political objectives. In this sense, many of the world’s governments, including those of South Africa, France, and the US, have at one time or another committed acts of (state) terrorism. More commonly associated with terrorism, however, are such organisations Al Qaida, ISI etc. These organisations actively court media attention, striving to make their ‘target publics’ aware of their existence and their objectives, often by illegal or violent means. Elements of Political Communication - THE AUDIENCE The purpose of all this communication is, as has been noted, to persuade. The target of this persuasion – the audience – is the second key element in the political communication process, without which no political message can have any relevance. The audience for a particular political communication may be broad, as in a billboard advertisement, where the objective is to persuade an entire nation of voters. It may be more narrow, as when the editorial of a leading newspaper, such as the Utusan Malaysia or BeritaHarian, or The Facebook page of political parties Elements of Political Communication - THE AUDIENCE The audience may be both broad and narrow, as in the case of BERSIH demonstration. Such a ‘communication’ has at least two levels of meaning, and is intended for at least two audiences. One, the Malaysian people as a whole, are being told that the current electoral system in Malaysia is not free, clean and fair. A second, more selective audience, the government, which they request for reformation of the current electoral system in Malaysiato ensure free, clean and fair elections. Whatever the size and nature of the audience, however, all political communication is intended to achieve an effect on the receivers of the message. From Malaysian electoral campaigns to the lobbying of NGO and pressure groups, the communicator hopes that there will be some positive (from his or her point of view) impact on the political behaviour of the recipient.  What is the effect of Political Communication to the audience? MANIPULATION? PERSUASION? AGENDA SETTING? Politician’s visual image in shaping voters’ perceptions; 'Biased’ media coverage on election outcomes; Relationship between ‘public opinion’ and by both politicians and media organisations to set agendas.  Elements of Political Communication - THE MEDIA The third element in the political communication process is media organisations, which today comprise print, broadcasting and online channels. The digital platform include: websites operated by established media organisations such as the Utusan Malaysia, The Star and Berita Harian; online news provider such as MalaysiaKini, blogs and independent sites which are devoted to reporting, aggregating or commenting on political issues; social networking sites such as Facebook, and Twitter, which allow internet users to share information rapidly. Elements of Political Communication - THE MEDIA In democratic political systems the media function both as transmitters of political communication which originates outside the media organisation itself, and as senders of political messages constructed by journalists and other producers such as bloggers. Political actors use the media in order to have their messages communicated to the desired audience. Political programmes, policy statements, electoral appeals and pressure group campaigns – and potential for communicative effectiveness – only to the extent that they are reported and received as messages by the media audience. The media, of course, do not simply report, in a neutral and impartial way, what is going on in the political arena around them. This is true of all media, and in all societies. Some ‘biases’ may be attributed, to constraints and limitations on the newsgathering process. Others are the product of choices made to support this or that political party or idea. Elements of Political Communication - THE MEDIA The media are important to the political process in more direct ways. All newspapers take pride, for example, in their ‘public voice’ – the editorials in which they articulate political opinions. Sometimes these are presented as the ‘voice of the reader’ and directed at policy-makers. Alternatively, they may be constructed as the calm, authoritative voice of the editor, viewing the political scene from a detached distance. In both cases, the editorial is intended as a political intervention, and is often read as such by a government or a party. Commentaries, analyses, and other forms of ‘authored’ journalism are also interventionist in intention. NEW MEDIA AND POLITICS The evolution of the internet has seen the growth of the ‘blogosphere’, or web logs in political communication – regularly updated, individual websites on which authors place commentary and opinion about events of the day. Online commentary in new media such as the posting of video messages on YouTube have become an important element of the political media and challenging the primacy of newspaper commentators. This trend has accelerated with the emergence of Twitter, Facebook, and social networking. The emergence of the internet has provided new opportunities for public participation in political debate, such as blogging and ‘citizen journalism’. Websites such as Twitter permit small political groups to make statements with global reach. IRANIAN REVOLUTION & ARAB SPRING, PALESTINIAN CRISES During the pro-reform demonstrations which took place in Iran following the election of June 2009, and Arab Spring revolutions in 2010 onwards protesters used Twitter and YouTube to post to the world video footage of regime violence. Campaigners aboard the flotilla of ships which sought to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza in May 2010 used Twitter to distribute real-time information about and video footage of the incident. During the 2021 Palestinian uprising, The solidarity showed by Malaysian social media users in support of the Palestinian plight is changing public opinion at the international level on the Israeli regime and its crimes against humanity.