Televised Political Debate: 50 odd years in the making

By Tal-Anna Szlenski

“A historic moment in television” was how Alastair Stewart described tonight’s televised debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Cleg on ITV. To that I can only respond, Yeah right. Erm, did the so-called Nixon-Kennedy debate taking place 50 years ago (yes, 50!) in the US, slip his mind?

The frenzy, zeal and buzz surrounding this happening borders on embarrassing. Don’t get me wrong, such an event is noteworthy. But in this case the hype should have been focusing on the content to be expected (or issues such as Nick Clegg appearing – is Britian truly turning into a 3-party system or is it just for show?) – not the format.

The significance assigned to the fact that this was to be Britain’s first televised election debate, becomes even more laughable considering the fact that much newer mediums have long been introduced to the election race. Just because it is a long overdue first, doesn’t necessarily make it a ‘decisive and changing event for British politics and political communication’. And yes, I am aware that this opinion goes directly against those who are keen to argue that the importance lies in the fact that all three leaders were gathered to discuss policy issues.

I on the other hand argue that apart from them standing in the same room when seeking to trump their rehearsed soundbytes through, this debate did not provide any legitimacy to claims branding it as a new dawn in British politics. Any such claims quickly fade in light of Twitter, Facebook, blogging and of course the 1960 debate between Kennedy and Nixon.

In postwar US a televised debate introduced the so-called personification of politics. It was truly a new way for people to engage with politicians. In a post-recession Britain, where people increasingly find themselves able to gain information and access to political happenings as they are taking place (in the name of transparency of course…), a TV debate is just one of many mediums driving forward the message of the politicians.

If ‘the medium is the message’ as our old beloved friend McLuhan claimed, then tonight’s debate only goes to show that the establishment’s approach to political communication is stuck in the past. This of course confirmed by the appearance of the ITV TV studio which would in mild terms be classified in a category starting with p and ending with an assé.

In other words – as confirmed by most commentators and bloggers out there, nothing groundbreaking in the content of this event either. My own little summary of sentiments derived from the debate:

• Gordon Brown: ‘Let me complete the projects we have started whilst in government. And by the way the recession is a global phenomenon – not just us affected (effectively, it’s not my fault).’

 

• David Cameron: ’13 years of Labour failures. We will provide solutions to mend broken Britain                                            ’, (blank space to denote the ongoing silence regarding Ashcroft and Grayling).

 

• Nick Clegg: ‘Labour, Conservatives – they’re all the same. They have ruled the country for the last 65 years. We haven’t. Now it must be our turn. We’re different.’

Spinning Before It’s Been Spun

By Kyle Taylor

Well well, it looks as if a UK election is FINALLY just around the corner. After more than three years, Gordon Brown MUST trot down to Buckingham Palace and ask the Queen to dissolve parliament so the voters can remake it again. The tell-tale signs are there: Weird, confusing, totally unclear maps like the one above are being reproduced everywhere with captions like “breakdown of the UK electorate likely voter turnout by county excluding outlier opinions and small parties were the election to occur tomorrow.” WHAT? Is this it all scientific? Then there’s inevitably some new interactive feature that allows you to “sway the vote and see what happens.” What happens, you ask? You “spin” the dial and the colors change, making a graphic you initially could not understand even more confusing and turning you into a spin doctor in the process. “Look how easy it is to totally convolute the news,” they seem to say.

The other tell-tale sign? Each party begins to spin the election and “what it’s about” before it has even started, meaning they’re spinning before there is even anything to be spun! News reports like this one in the Guardian say thinks like: “the Prime Minister will say” and “the Tory leader will counter this by saying” and “that other guy from that other party will then double back by contradicting the first guy and chastising the second guy before declaring what the election is ‘really about.'”

The media used to be in the business of telling what happened. Now they’re apparently psychics, telling us what the news will be tomorrow! Isn’t that in and of itself – a newspaper that tells the future – a cover story?!?! The reality is that the “will say” is now code for: “We’re not going to wait to convolute, contort, manipulate, and angle our story. We’re going to try and spin it before it’s a story that way when it becomes a story, it won’t appear to be “spun,” it will just appear to be news.” It’s rather brilliant on their side, rather detrimental to get fair information on our side.

Are we to the point where we’re spinning and spinning so much at every stage in the game that it’s impossible to wade out the garbage, or are we as a public so aware of it now that we just simply write it off as “spin” and ignore it all? It’s hard to tell, especially when our base line may have actually been pre-spun for us too.

Stay alert Britain. This is a big one.

How to Appeal to the Electorate

by Tal-Anna Szlenski

Today’s Guardian offers some interesting comments and campaign suggestions for the two main parties from a line of advertising wizards.

Obvious from the proposed ad strategies is the fact that there is very little differentiation between the parties. Hence, as Richard Exxon, Chief Executive of RKCR, notes:

we may all need a shower after this election, but in the absence of any vision from either party, negative campaigning it is. By their sins shall we know them.

Somehow, I doubt the negative campaigning will reach US levels. But it should be interesting to see what is in store, and which scandals are yet to appear.

At the same time, as the parties seek to outdo each other in sleek PR performances (which have of course not always gone according to plan), I have to admit that it is ‘SamCam’s’ novice approach to the cameras which has caught my eye today.

I actually find it refreshing and endearing to observe her small hesitations and insecurity in front of the camera. To a great extent, her less than perfect performance underlines the irony in both Brown and Cameron seeking to appear ‘real’ and ‘in-touch’ with the electorate by hiding their imperfections through a documented usage of make-up and heavy air-brushing.

Humour: An Underrated Weapon

by Tal-Anna Szlenski

Internet, schminternet… What is arguably becoming the defining feature of the 2010 UK General Election is something as plain and simple as ‘humour’. Not that British humour is ever just plain and simple.

Judging by recent campaign initiatives, it appears that the British political machine is seeking to connect to voters through a mean which stirs reaction (a laugh, smile, frown, maybe even just a “what the ****?”) to a much greater extent than even the savviest iPhone application could wish to achieve.

As election fever rises, wit and satire have been heavily employed as the electoral weapon of choice. Just consider the Lib Dem parodical creation of ‘the Labservative party and Gorvid Camerown’, the many spoof entries of Conservative campaign posters to be found on MyDavidCameron.com, or the comic Conservative retorts following Labour’s poster depicting David Cameron as a 1980s Gene Hunt.

Usage of parody, satire and comedy is now no extraordinary occurrence. A Guardian April 1st mock story perhaps illustrated this best, when it led people to believe that the Labour party where to turn Gordon Brown’s bad-tempered reputation into an advantage through a string of tongue-in-cheek campaign posters presenting Brown as an alpha-male leader for Britian. It might have seemed rather peculiar, but not to the extent that it was unbelievable – hence many people fell for the joke.

Even after the revelation of the falsified story, the fabricated campaign-slogans “step outside posh boy” has gained popularity in its own right. T-shirts with the slogan are now on sale (though perhaps this is a continuation of the April’s fool story?), and the Tories have created their own spoof of what was a spoof ad in the first place.

This active usage of humour originating from the the political establishment itself (and not just satirists) is to begin with quintessentially British. Further, it is what makes this current election stand out and gain character, amidst the many wishful (not to mention wrongful) comparisons to the preceding US campaigns of Howard Dean and Barack Obama.

And perhaps it is humour which as a generally appreciated deed can serve as a valuable foundation for common ground when seeking to appeal to a broader segment of the electorate. If done right it will prove itself to be of much greater worth than kissing babies and visiting hospital wards in front of the camera.

And as such: let humour be the message, and the iPhone app be the messenger.