Media, trust and influence:lessons from UK GE 2015

Prof Charlie BeckettLSE

@CharlieBeckettWindsor Debates Sept 2015

How did this….

…lead to this?

It was mainly this

Plus a lot of this

Though it wouldn’t work without this

Unique or a precedent?

• Rochester by-election – damage limitation• Over-reaction by over-sensitive leader• Toxic combination of anti-Labour blogger (who

works for) and anti-Labour newspaper BUT• Genuine problem with core vote perception• Inevitable consequence of febrile networked

political media

What digital can for democracy

• More information• Citizen voice and

participation• Media held to account• Access to politicians• Direct communication

(disintermediation)

• Information overload• Faster• More personal (filter

bubbles)• More emotional

(personalities, anger)• Manipulation,

misinformation

Spin eats itself

Authenticity is constructed

The theatre of politics

Marketing morals in a post-ideological world

But politics can still be popular

How do you respond? Do the data

• Invest in intelligent communications & reflexive analytics as well as public-centred design

• Identify, segment, specify – listen and learn and respond

• Align your organisation and your message before making the call to action

Connect to me:c.h.beckett@lse.ac.uk

@CharlieBeckettCharles Beckett on Facebook

Polis director’s blog:http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/