Get the inside track on the media and government

The new fashion in Australian politics seems to be leadership change. In the past ten years, we’ve seen Rudd overthrown by Gillard (only to succeed in a subsequent challenge a couple of years later), three federal opposition leaders in the Rudd/Gillard government era, the overthrow of a Victorian premier and subsequent election loss, two or maybe three leadership spills in the NT, and a Queensland premier suffer a thumping loss at an election. Political life seems to be a lot more unsettled now than it was in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

So, what would happen if Holt, Gorton and McMahon were reincarnated and chose to be politicians in the ‘twenty-teens’? How would they cope with the constant news cycle where any mug (this one included) can write a blog, send a tweet or post on social media and have a chance that it will be noticed and assumed to be ‘the truth’?

Technology is an amazing thing. Children today just ’don’t get’ the miracle of Instant Messaging, ringing people outside the same ‘zone’ and the ability to gain information on practically any subject on a device you hold in your hand. In the days of Holt, Gorton and McMahon, as there is today, there was a press gallery in the Federal Parliament House. The difference is that ‘back in the day’, the press gallery members were the only ones who had ready access to the political players of the day. Today, it is somewhat expected that political parties, politicians and members of the press gallery all maintain social media accounts, where should you feel the need or desire, you can read the infinite wisdom of the politician or reporter of your choice as it leaves their keyboard.

It is clear that political intrigue occurred in the past — otherwise the term wouldn’t be in common use. History tells us that Billy Hughes and Sir Robert Menzies were prime ministers while representing different parties at different times. The ALP split into two different organisations during the 1950s. In addition, John Gorton effectively ended his prime ministership when he voted against himself in a leadership vote in 1971.

Whitlam became leader of the opposition during the short reign of Prime Minister Holt (who vanished at sea off Cheviot Beach in Victoria). He was far younger than his predecessor Arthur Caldwell (1966 election campaign advertising clip here) and set about modernizing the ALP. By the 1972 election McMahon was prime minister. McMahon’s 1972 policy speech is an earnest appeal for votes but demonstrates how totally unprepared he was for the emergence of the ‘It’s time’ campaign of the ALP led by Whitlam. Like Newman in Queensland 40 years later, Whitlam managed to alienate a significant section of the community in three years. The Liberal Party had developed a pale imitation of ‘It’s Time’ for the 1975 federal election, using the slogan ‘Turn on the lights’ with associated campaign material for the successful campaign to elect Malcolm Fraser. Since then, the marketing of our politicians and politics has only intensified. During the ’80s, Hawke and Keating announced proposed changes to the Australian taxation system prior to the 1984 election and promised to hold a summit to discuss the policy and its implementation after the election. The ‘tax summit’ was held in July 1985.

By the time the GST was introduced in 2000, the campaign had moved to television advertising. The internet was still young in 2000 and ‘social’ media was the ‘women’s section’ of the paper where the latest fashions and who was at the latest elite society party were the general subjects for discussion.

In the past 15 years, there has been a significant shift in the technology available to society. Social media is now considered to be a number of computer applications where anyone can write, discuss ideas and discuss issues relevant to them. Generally known as the ‘fifth estate’, social media (such as this blog, Instagram and similar platforms) gives people without any qualifications as a journalist the ability to discuss current issues and express opinions — potentially to a large audience. Traditional media (the ‘fourth estate’) has responded by creating websites that mirror the content of their existing publication — be it newsprint or electronic media — available through the internet for instant access (usually) wherever you are in the world. In addition, 24 hour news channels have been created such as Aljazeera, CNN and ABC News 24. Nature abhors a vacuum, so there has to be content for all these additional ‘instantaneous’ news channels. Those in the ‘fourth estate’ — some would argue attempting to retain their relevance — now seem to grab every opportunity to quickly publish on their organisation’s website any small piece of information they discover, only to be analysed and discussed by others and then republished.

It is clear that today’s political leaders have more training in how to behave in front of the media than Arthur Caldwell and Sir William McMahon did. Although being in the lifetime of a considerable percentage of the population, Caldwell and McMahon’s wooden delivery seem rather old fashioned today.

None of our three examples were examples of classical beauty. Holt looked his age, Gorton carried the reminders of a nasty accident when a pilot in World War 2 while McMahon was somewhat unkindly referred to as a VW Beetle with the doors open — matched with a crackly high-pitched voice. In contrast, more recent prime ministers, such as Julia Gillard have been subject to discussion of their looks, fashion sense and living arrangements, as well as their physical appearance. It should be said that looks, living arrangements and so on do not in any way determine the quality of decisions made in a leadership position.

We discussed above that you don’t have to be ‘in the media’ to make your opinion known. There are various social media sites that openly publicise their political beliefs (including The Political Sword, The Hoopla as well as the Don’t blame me I didn’t vote for Tony Abbott, a Facebook page). There are a number of equally blatantly conservative political Facebook and internet sites around — ‘search’ is your friend.

In the recent Queensland election campaign, various people and groups took to social media to attempt to influence the vote. It is fair to say that, in addition to the political parties, mining companies, unions and other interest groups all bought advertising on established media as well as social media websites to advance their respective positions. Others such as Dr David Pascoe created Facebook pages to discuss their individual views and by doing so they attempted to influence others. Pascoe somehow promoted an alliance between Alan Jones (2GB announcer), Katter’s United political party and Peter Wellington, independent MP for the Queensland seat of Nicklin, and made a number of posts critical of former Premier Newman and the state’s LNP for his alleged closeness to mining companies while ignoring primary production. While no one will ever know if Pascoe’s Facebook page affected the outcome of the election, he claims he has influenced large companies in their business dealings with their customers here and here — both ironically reported in a newspaper. Pascoe continued his crusade against coal seam gas development by commenting on the New South Wales state election.

Cathy McGowan is the independent federal MP for Indi. She won the seat — a conservative ‘stronghold’ — in 2013. In fact, Indi was the only Coalition loss at the 2013 election. ABC journalist Barrie Cassidy wrote a piece on The Drum describing the process. Cassidy’s article demonstrates social media played a large part in the organisation of the group, and McGowan’s win.

Holt, Gorton and McMahon were intelligent people and rose to the leadership level of a political organisation, so they knew how to ‘play the game’. In the days of media and image management, paid for by the political parties, their images could have been cultivated to make them ‘acceptable’ for the TV news sound bite. The major difference probably is that they wouldn’t have the luxury of reading the morning papers, crafting a message for broadcast that afternoon and moving on, only needing to interact with the established press gallery. The press gallery would have also respected ‘the rules’ and not led discussions on leadership spills and the like, realising that their access might be restricted if they did.

Has the rise of social media made it harder for politicians? In all probability it has because, while they still have the ability to ‘craft’ a message, any personal, private or public misstep is reported. They also have to be ‘on top of the game’ 24 hours a day, as once the audio and footage has been transmitted back to the base or someone has posted an event on Facebook or Twitter, it is out there, without the ability to ask for the story to be corrected or retracted. The public will no longer accept a speech from a politician sitting behind a desk looking authoritarian and like the protector of all they can see. Australian prime ministers for a decade or so now have been walking out to the podium in the courtyard at Parliament House in response.

It seems that social media has influenced politics. Dr David Pascoe and Cathy McGowan would certainly argue in the affirmative. Politicians now have to attempt to make the news, not be the news, while crafting a message and delivering it on cue and accurately. While they are doing that they have to seem to be relevant and responsive to their communities. The alternative is losing the leadership or, even worse, the election.

What do you think?



About 2353

This week 2353 asks whether social media and the fifth estate influence politics. Well, you are here reading this, so perhaps you can answer the question. Please leave a comment. Next week Ken will take a look at the Intergenerational Reports, not just the recent one released by Hockey but the four that have been put out since 2002.