With the general election fast approaching, the time for a new beginning (or an extended one) is almost upon us. Five years ago it was TV that proved to be the most dominant channel of media, but this time around it’s newspapers that could have a bigger impact.
Why you say? Well the run up to the election is proving to be very different to five years ago. A record number of people are still undecided, so the power of an opinion could prove much more impactful than anyone previously thought. The margins between the front runners appears so fine that a little nudge from the source you trust to provide you with your daily fix could help push you in a particular direction.
Newspapers help guide voters away from the far fringes of parties such as UKIP and the Green Party, using the successful strategy of the ‘wasted vote’ like they have many times before. It seems they’re doing a good job at clearing the fog and helping voters fully understand why we should be voting for each party. The word count of a BBC report on the election battle will rarely exceed 200 words, where as some newspaper reports will be as high as 2,000 words.
Voters still trust news brands to provide an honest reflection of what’s going on in the run up to the election, as well as keeping everyone up to date, and without them, we would have a large hole in the coverage.
