Media and Voters: The Audience, Content, and Influence of Press and Television at the 1987 General Election

This study offers an analysis of the role of the media in contemporary British politics. Based on a panel survey of voters' perceptions and opinions plus a content analysis of television news, it presents a detailed picture of media coverage in the weeks preceding the 1987 election. Drawing contrasts between the BBC and ITV, and between national and regional news programmes, it reveals their impact on voters' perceptions, attitudes and voting choice. The author argues that voters were not passive receptacles for media presentation, but actually used the media and, in particular, combinations of news sources - press and television, BBC and ITV - to form their opinions. In his final chapter, he explores the implications of the book's empirical findings for current debates about broadcasting standards and discusses the arguments for and against legal controls on television and press content.