Parties, leaders, and issues: Images of Britain's changing party system in television news coverage of the 1983 and 1987 general election campaigns

Abstract

This article compares election campaign news on Britain's flagship main evening news programs in the 1983 and 1987 general election campaigns, to assess how election news changed in response to developments in Britain's political communication system. Content analysis shows that British election campaign news in 1987 remains heavily focused on the substantive issues, such as the economy and social welfare, while paying much less attention to the polls and the “horserace.” The main political parties continue to retain a great deal of influence over the subjects of election news stories. In 1987, the parties were even more successful in initiating favorable visuals. Campaign news in 1987 was also more heavily focused on the party leaders than in 1983. These changes in news content are in part due to the unprecedented efforts of the political parties in 1987 to run highly professional campaigns. The study provides a baseline by which to assess the influence of the commercialization of broadcasting on the coverage of future elections.

Key words:

• General elections
• pubic‐service model
• information environment