Today's UK election IS the 'Murdoch Election'...
My rant for today is a continuation of my assessment of the UK election, which is being held today. I use the word 'assessment' most tentatively, given that other peoples' 'assessments' tend to be quite different to mine with regard to this UK election. Now we're all entitled to our opinions, of course, but it's when the opinions being 'assessed' are those of the 'voter' by pollsters for 'political analysis' that we enter very murky waters indeed.
The assessments in question here are those notorious political opinion polls. And this UK election has been rife with them. And I have found them to be suspect...at best. Polls have come out almost every day since this election was announced about a month ago. Not to mention months before that. And they seem to be coming out by the hour in the last few days. It's a veritable torrent of polls.
At first I took very little notice of these polls, even into the election period. Polls are dicey, polls can change as the end nears, we know how often polls have been quite mistaken in the past, etc. I also have a problem with them in a democratic state, but I'll touch on that later.
But it's been in the last week that I have taken more and more notice of these polls. And, oh my, how interesting they have been. What I found most peculiar is how the polls immediately declared Cameron for the Tories as the 'winner' of the third and last debate. Really? Based on what? I happened to see that last debate on TV for two reasons: (1) I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and (2) it was taking place in the Grand Hall at the University of Birmingham, my alma mater and a place in which I spent three really good, enjoyable years filled with good varsity memories. I was quite proud watching the debate take place in a grand hall and a setting with which I was so familiar.
But, quite frankly, I could hardly have judged David Cameron the 'winner' based on his performance that night. If anything, I though Gordon Brown availed himself rather well and with quite a lot of aplomb. He did far better than expected. Nick Clegg came across well, although somewhat the petulant 'schoolboy debater' at times, even if he seemed the most sincere, and Cameron came across...well, flat, really. Yet. he was quite distinctly the 'winner' of that debate. Based on what?
Aaahh, yes, those polls. For us here outside the UK the TV station that has given the most coverage on this election has undoubtedly been the pappy tabloidesque Sky News. But it has made for interesting TV from afar. In giving us more coverage, they've also deluged us with polls. The interesting thing is that Sky News is owned by News Corp. The Fuhrer...ahem...founder of News Corp? Rupert Murdoch. And the most pollster that most consistently gave the best 'findings' to the Conservatives was yougov, the polling arm of that outstanding daily newspaper of such high repute, The Sun. If one looked up the words 'tabloid gutter press' in the dictionary, there would be a picture of The Sun newspaper. Who does The Sun belong to? Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. And what party did the Sun endorse just a few days before this election? The Conservatives, but of course.
Other polls somehow tended to follow similar, if less 'Tory-favourable', trends in their polling. But who's to say what political interests are behind the others, besides the likes of yougov? Am I to believe that pollsters these days are objective, fair and unbiased in whom they poll? Call me cynical, but I'll take a rain check on that.
Even more disturbing, even galling to me, is how the Lib Dems are being discussed as being 'in trouble' in certain of their marginal seats. And who would be their biggest opposition in most of these seats? The Tories, of course. And who reported this 'disturbing trend' for the Lib Dems, just two days before the actual election/ Sky News, of course.
As for Gordon Brown - well, his Labour Party can't seem to break through the 30% barrier in these 'opinion polls'. It's known as a psychological barrier. Interesting word that - psychological.
Subtly, subtly, the opinions of people are formed. And how are they formed? By the perception of what is, rather than what could be. And it is that mis-perception that can make the difference in the minds of certain of those critical, key 'swing' voters. Why vote for the 'underdog' or the 'loser' when the polls keep telling you that the other party is looking 'certain' to win, right?
I don't see a conspiracy. That's why I didn't go as far as to title this post the 'Murdoch Media Manipulation', which would have had as good alliteration! I opted for the word 'massage', because that is what I have been sensing in the days leading up to this election. It's the gentle massage of public opinion and the collective subconscious of that public by pollsters and news media of which a significant part are under the control of Rupert Murdoch, a notorious little rightwing neo-conservative when it comes to journalism and an avowed supporter of the Tories.
Opinion polls are undemocratic. They totally undermine the democratic process b creating certain misconceptions and preconceived ideas about 'where the election is going'. I really do not believe that voters have 'the right' to know what other voters may or may not vote, even if those being polled remain anonymous and could change their minds. That is of no consequence in this debate. Opinions are formed based on perceptions and perceived notions of a given situation - that is human nature.
These highly suspect pollsters, in collusion with media, are milking perception and opinion for all that it's worth. It is their possible agenda, however subtle, however 'massaged', that unnerves me no end.
The UK, like any other nation, should do as France does and ban opinion polls during an election process. That would certainly go some way to salving the uneasiness which some may feel that this is nothing more than 'A Murdoch Election'. Nothing less than a better democracy could be at stake.
The French have the right idea, ne c'est pas?
Do you get my point?
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