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.

Drama

A dramatic weekend across the country came to dramatic end for us and we spent the evening watching a block of the University of Westminster’s Harrow Campus burn. I haven’t had a chance to go and see what the damage is but judging by the height of the flames and the umber of fire engines that turned up, it’s not going to be pretty. It was quite a surreal experience really.

The weekend itself was spent visiting friends down in Crawley. There’s not much to do there so other than eat and drink, when we did go out we headed for Brighton Saturday and then Lewes on Sunday. It was all very relaxing and I managed to put on a load of weight. Football on Wednesday will hopefully put that right.

Anyway, moving on. After a day at work this evening I have actually made a start on writing my dissertation. Working largely from memory I set out a few of the arguments surrounding turnout in UK elections, whether it is a sign of a democracy in crisis or not and the role communications strategies may have played in affecting voter confidence and turnout in elections. I’ve also written a bit about whether it is political communications strategies or the ‘feral media’, to quote a former Prime Minister who are to blame.

Essentially I have just set up the question of what – if any – impact new media might have on political communication and whether it can play a part in creating a more participative democracy. I still have a lot of work to do on it firstly because the arguments are quite complex and I need to made clear that communications is not the only, or even the most important, issue at stake here. I also need to trawl through all the books I read earlier in the year to firm up the arguments I have put forward. Essentially I have to write a 2,500 word essay on whether British democracy is in crisis and the reasons behind it.

And finally, hopefully some more questionnaires will show up soon from Hackney. I’m not going to try and contact any more people now as time has run out but I will continue to chase those who are still pending.

The Tenth Politician

A quick visit to Hackney Town Hall this morning to pick up the questionnaires left by Councillor Desmond. Luckily there was no repeat of the saga with Coucillor Siddiqui’s questionnaire of a few weeks ago so today’s collection was problem free. I’ve now got ten questionnaires filled in by Councillors which means I’m still short of my 25 per cent target but I think I will just have to work with what I’ve got (plus the answers coming from Speaker Khan)

I’ve also forwarded the youth questionnaire to Gary Francis at HCVS so we’ll see how that all goes.

The rather exciting period of sorting through all the data and adding up the results is approaching. That’s when all this will actually start to get interesting as the information I’ve collected starts to throw up some patterns of thought (or maybe not) on different stakeholders perceptions on the potential of new media as an effective channel for political communications.

HCVS Help

I forgot to mention the other day that Linda Smith did not ignore my correspondence but actually sent back some very useful comments which pretty much answered all of my questions regarding her thoughts on the potential of new media in political communication. I’ve also had a couple more questionnaires back from Team Hackney members and an offer of some extra help from the Hackney Council for Voluntary Service who might be able to get me in touch with more people to speak to. Obviously I’ve told them that all help is welcome so we’ll see where that leads.