'IT'S THE SUN WOT WON IT', was the famous headline claim of
Britain's most popular newspaper following the Conservative party's
victory over Labour in the 1992 general election. The headline
referred to a virulent press campaign against Neil Kinnock's Labour
party, and dramatically highlighted one of the chief features of
British politics during the twentieth century - the conflict
between a socialist Labour party and a capitalist popular press.
Labour's frequent complaints of the political and electoral
unfairness of newspaper bias meant that some commentators
considered that this dispute had a heritage as old as the party
itself. Others, including the Labour leadership at the time, argued
that despite past tensions, the 1992 election marked the
culmination of an unprecedented campaign of vilification against
the party.
Popular Newspapers, the Labour Party and British Politics assesses
these competing claims, looking not only at 1992 but both back and
forward to examine the continuities and changes in newspaper
coverage of British politics and the Labour party over the
twentieth century. The book explores whether the popular press has
lived up to its claim of being a democratic 'fourth estate', or has
merely, as Labour politicians have argued been a powerful 'fifth
column' distorting the democratic process. Drawing on a range of
previously unexamined sources this book offers the first original
and comprehensive history of a fascinating aspect of British
politics from Beaverbrook to Blair.
James Thomas is a lecturer at the Cardiff School of Journalism,
Media and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University, and has published
articles and essays exploring the relationship between thepopular
press and British politics.
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