Everything You Should Know About Public Relations
short, can be worth more than 1,000 well-weighed words in a national newspaper.
This hungry urge to televisual promotion is leading politicians into new ventures. For example, among UK politicians, Michael Portillo conducts a documentary inquiry into his Spanish ancestors, Mo Mowlem presents a hagiography of Winston Churchill and Charles Kennedy comperes a comic 'current affairs' quiz show. Politicians around the world are similarly demonstrating their urge to present themselves on TV in new formats.
This level of exposure is the means to grasping fame, usually with an eye to gaining or retaining power. A strong personal presence in the mass media is considered vital.
In the United Kingdom, Labour Party members in Carlisle told television viewers that they were choosing Tony Blair for their party leader because 'he will look good on television'. Liberal Democrat members selected Charles Kennedy for their leader because he was already well known for his non-political television appearances. Conservative members make public their endless despair at not having a charismatic leader comparable to Margaret Thatcher. Much the same occurs in many other countries.
At the constituency level, leadership of a political party transforms a modest majority into overwhelming support. Typically, in the United Kingdom, this goes from routinely obtaining around 40 per cent of the votes cast to receiving 65 per cent or more. Being Prime Minister or some other senior figure pushes the local majority even higher, because the local MP is then perceived to be as important as any show biz celebrity.
Is propaganda strictly for the politicians? Propaganda is about telling, not listening, nor hearing. Politicians appear to adore propaganda, and those among them that are its greatest advocates are more often than not the noisiest at protesting the need for 'public debate'.