What I Learnt Last Night

Here's the first draft for my dissertation following a meeting last night at the Methodist Church on Mare Street.

On 3 August 2007 the author met with the group who had filled in the questionnaire in order to discuss the above findings. There was general agreement with the conclusions reached. However, a number of interesting points emerged.

The use of new media technologies in political communications will not change anything unless it is accompanied by more profound reform in the political system. Asked to reflect not just on their own views but also those of their peer group, the participants felt that there was potential for new media to bring politicians and young voters closer together, to generate greater understanding, and to increase participation.

The idea that the traditional media have had an overtly negative effect on political engagement did not have much currency with the group who emphasised that they were able to distinguish between ‘serious news’ and more frivolous items. There was an acceptance that the media do sensationalise certain stories to make for more interesting reading but generally the participants felt both they, and their peers, were clearly able to prioritise issues.

In effect the participants were adamant that what has been referred to throughout this study as the theory of media malaise was not the main cause for voter disaffection and that this was also the case among their peer group in the Afro Caribbean community.

The main issues of concern for the group revolved around effective representation. Although there was some criticism of the performance of politicians, particularly the local MPs, what emerged was a clear feeling that the current political system is not able to represent their concerns as individuals nor as members of their community.

Encouragingly a number of solutions were put forward for reforming the way national democracy functions. These included the idea of creating an organisation along the lines of the Commission for Racial Equality, but specifically geared towards young people or the reform of the elective legislatures of this country to allow for a youth parliament which would have some kind of impact on the legislative process.

The above are clearly complex issues, and debate over whether the current system as operated in the United Kingdom is need of reform is ongoing and beyond the scope of this research. However, what this discussion does prove is that there is interest in politics, that young people would like to be engaged, and are willing to discuss possible alternatives to the current system with politicians.

It is for this reason that they view new media technologies as a positive communications tool. It has the potential to allow them to contribute to, or even initiate, a discussion of which they want to be part of. But the agenda for that discussion is not to reverse the decline in the standing of politicians due to media sensationalism or to encourage more young people to vote. The agenda for this particular group of young people is to address a deeply felt need for a commitment to reform and to a more effective form of representation beyond having a single MP to be made.

This feeling, which according to the participants, is generally reflected across their peer group, has serious consequences for the political class in Hackney who as we have seen do place a lot more emphasis on the role the media plays in creating a negative image of politicians and politics. There is little desire for politicians to be ridiculed and there is interest in issues but there seems but at present young people feel there is little point in bothering to engage in politics because concerns never seem to be addressed.

This failure is put down to unsatisfactory performance by politicians but the greater emphasis is on the fact that MPs can not really affect change and that, even if they could, one MP representing some 70,000 constituents simply can not be in a position to truly address the concerns of everyone. On this factor, the more favourable view of the local council which emerged from the questionnaires was also reflected in the conversation. Local councillors were seen as trying too hard to be in the local media and not looking after the concerns of constituents as much as they could. They were, however, seen as more representative of the communities in Hackney, and as being able to really influence matters of concern to individuals or neighbourhoods.

At national level another issue that was debated was the difference in political views between the parties. This part of the discussion was definitely a secondary theme for the group, whose emphasis on their feelings of not being effectively represented has already been made clear. It is still important to note a certain amount of confusion on what the main political parties stood for and whether there was any substantive difference between them.

A suggestion was made that perhaps classes on the political views of the major parties be introduced in schools in order for there to be greater understanding on what they represent. This brings us back to the issue discussed in the opening chapter of this study. Namely, that one of the reasons for declining voter turnout is that with the ideological battles between left and right which dominated politics over the twentieth century largely settled, political parties have coalesced around a centre ground with most people feeling unaffected by whether a particular party is in power or not and focussing on who might be the most able ‘manager’ of the country.

This lack of ideological conflict seems to have bread uncertainty about what the different parties stand for and although new media technologies could be used to help young people understand the differences that may exist, we should perhaps be willing to consider the possibility that current levels of turnout reflect the norm of a society which overall does not have any serious internal conflicts and view the situation throughout the twentieth century as being the exception.

Overall the experience gained from this aspect of the research was encouraging. Although the small nature of the sample must always be borne in mind and the conclusions reached can only be viewed as suggestive, it seems that young people within the Afro Caribbean community do care about politics and would like to get involved in shaping the future of their community and the country.

Although the lack of ideological conflict may mean that a return to voting figures of the latter part of the twentieth century may be unfeasible, young people do believe that new media technologies have the potential to play an effective part in enhancing democracy and participation in elections. However, the trend that emerged from the questionnaires, namely that there is great scepticism about whether politicians can really effectively deal with their concerns, and some scepticism over whether they really want to address those concerns, seems to hold true.

Communication is a good thing but the overwhelming feeling taken by the author from this follow up discussion is that what is really needed is reform of the political system, not of the way the media operates, nor of the way politicians communicate with their constituents. The potential of new media in political communication can only be fulfilled as part of a wider programme of reform which lets young people feel that their concerns are really represented in the legislative process and the Government of the United Kingdom.