DOCSLIB.ORG

FACEBOOK, INC. June 17, 2020 1:00 Pm ET [Note: Transcript Corrected for Accuracy]

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
FACEBOOK, INC. June 17, 2020 1:00 Pm ET [Note: Transcript Corrected for Accuracy] FACEBOOK, INC. 06-17-20/1:00 p.m. ET Page 1 FACEBOOK, INC. June 17, 2020 1:00 p.m. ET [Note: Transcript corrected for accuracy] Operator: This is Conference # 5877788 Operator: Hello and welcome to Today’s Press Call. There will be prepared remarks and a Q&A to follow. To ask a question after the prepared remarks conclude, please press star one. Now I’d like to turn the call over to Tom Reynolds, who will kick this off. Tom Reynolds: Hey, everybody. Thank you, Operator, and thanks for joining us today. I’m Tom Reynolds from the Facebook Communications Team. As folks may have seen, our CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, had an op-ed last night about the new initiatives relating to our elections work, so we wanted to use this time to offer some additional details on that work, and we also wanted to discuss some new updates relating to our political ads work as well as give a brief overview relating to our ongoing election integrity efforts. We’re going to start with a brief overview of where we are from Nick Clegg, our Head of Communications and Policy, who also has an op-ed out today on our elections related issues. Naomi Gleit, our VP of Products and Social Impact, will then talk to you about our new Voting Information Center and the registration effort that Mark noted in his op-ed. Sarah Schiff who helps lead our ads product work will then talk about a new option to give people more control over the political and issue ads they see on Facebook and on Instagram along with new transparency features that we are rolling out. And finally Nathaniel Gleicher, our Head of Security Policy, will provide an update on our elections integrity work overall. FACEBOOK, INC. 06-17-20/1:00 p.m. ET Page 2 We’re then happy to answer any questions relating to these new elections products and initiatives. And just as a reminder this call is on the record with no embargo. With that, let me turn it over to Nick Clegg to kick us off. Nick Clegg: Yes, thanks, Tom. Thanks, everybody, for joining us. I just wanted to say a few words before we dive in because following a busy news day today, but we meet today in the light of the recent executive order from the President. The reports today about further plans for the administration to reform Section 230, the views and proposal put forward to us at Facebook from the Biden campaign, the calls overnight from a number of civil rights organizations for an ad boycott and I thought in the context of all of those different countervailing demands, suggestions, and pressures on Facebook; it would be worth just reiterating a few fundamental points. First this, we emphatically stand against hate speech. We have the internet’s most advanced system for removing hate speech content from our services and just to illustrate the point, we removed nearly 10 million points in the last quarter alone, and almost all of that – well, 88 percent of that was removed before it was reported to us by people. Of course, we’d like to do better, even better than that. We need to do more. We need to move faster, but we are making significant progress in the right direction. 88 percent removal of – rate of removal before anyone’s reported to us is up from 38 percent just two years ago, so that gives you an idea of the trajectory of progress we are making against the problem of hate speech on our services. And of course, our ability to do that, to moderate content in that way and moderate other forms of content, is enabled by the provisions of Section 230. And changing significantly or eliminating the balance of responsibility and provisions about liability in Section 230 would, in our view, in the end mean less speech of all kinds appearing online. FACEBOOK, INC. 06-17-20/1:00 p.m. ET Page 3 The proposals, or suggestions, the demands made from countervailing sides on how we should balance free speech against the dangers of hate speech or whether to fact-check more or less content, we accept that accountability. We accept that scrutiny. And we accept the responsibilities that we have as a platform on which so much of the political debate not least in the run up to the election plays out in this country. The Trump administration is demanding that we stop or reduce censoring content and that we fact-check less materials. Civil rights groups and the Biden campaign are demanding that we censor and/or fact-check more. Policymakers are just going to have to decide what rules they want for campaigns and for the role of the Internet, and particularly at times of electoral campaigns. We in the meantime, in the absence of those rules, are continuing to take our responsibility seriously and to strike the right balance without sacrificing the safety of our community or the ability of people to express their voice at the polls – which brings me, really, to the subject of our presentation and this press call, which is that to us the voting process is a crucial element of free expression. In the end the best way that people in power can be held to account is for voters to be able to see what is said by politicians, the good, the bad, and the ugly, to make up their own minds to participate fully in the electoral process and to cast their vote. And with that, I'd like to turn it over to Naomi Gleit. Naomi Gleit: Thanks, Nick. And thank you all for joining us today. I'm Naomi Gleit and I've been helping to lead the effort to launch our new Voting Information Center. A few weeks ago, Mark wrote about some of the things we can do to make civic engagement as easy as possible for people using our services. At the end of the day, voting is the best way for people to make their voices heard, hold our leaders accountable and address many of the long-term questions about justice that people are asking. FACEBOOK, INC. 06-17-20/1:00 p.m. ET Page 4 And so, today Facebook is launching the most aggressive voter information campaign that we've ever done. We will give millions of people accurate information about voting, especially with some states making changes in response to the pandemic. We've already run several get out the vote efforts to help people exercise their right to vote. We also fight misinformation about voting and attempts at voter suppression. We’ve been helping to register voters for many years. In both 2016 and 2018, we registered an estimated 2 million voters. And with November fast approaching, now is the time to double down on these efforts. Our goal is to help register more than 4 million people using our platforms this year in the U.S. and help them get to the polls. To do that, we're building our new Voting Information Center in the U.S. It will be similar to our COVID-19 Information Center, where people are getting authoritative information about the pandemic. The Voting Information Center is where people can access information about how to register, how to request mail-in ballots, deadlines they need to be aware of, what's on their ballot and much more. The Voting Information Center will also change as the election season progresses. So for example, when there's an upcoming voter registration deadline, the Voting Information Center will prioritize how to check and – register and check if you've already registered. And when it's time to request a mail-in ballot, it will highlight how to do that. When early voting begins, it will connect people with more information from their state election officials, and when nearing Election Day, we’ll help people make a plan, including what to bring with them in the polling site. We’re working closely with secretaries of state, state and local elections boards, and nonpartisan organizations about the types of information that’s relevant to include for everyone from first-time voters, to those who vote in every election. Our plan is to make the Voting Information Center available at the top of people’s Facebook feed, and on Instagram this summer. FACEBOOK, INC. 06-17-20/1:00 p.m. ET Page 5 We’re also working on updates to the existing civic reminders we’ve run in the primaries including registration reminders, vote by mail information, and Election Day reminders. These updates will make it even easier for people to participate and share with their friends across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. From now until Election Day, we expect over 160 million people will see authoritative information about how to vote in the U.S. The last point I want to make relates to combating voter suppression. Voter suppression has no place on Facebook. Our policies ban attempts to directly interfere with a person’s ability to vote, we remove this content whether it’s your neighbor or from a politician. Today, we ban not just misrepresentation about who can vote, qualifications for voting, and methods for voting, but also whether a vote will be counted, and misrepresentation about the materials required to vote. As Mark this week posted, we’re in the middle of reviewing our policies around voter suppression to make sure we’re taking in to account the realities of voting in the midst of a pandemic.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • OPENING PANDORA's BOX David Cameron's Referendum Gamble On
    OPENING PANDORA’S BOX David Cameron’s Referendum Gamble on EU Membership Credit: The Economist. By Christina Hull Yale University Department of Political Science Adviser: Jolyon Howorth April 21, 2014 Abstract This essay examines the driving factors behind UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to call a referendum if the Conservative Party is re-elected in 2015. It addresses the persistence of Euroskepticism in the United Kingdom and the tendency of Euroskeptics to generate intra-party conflict that often has dire consequences for Prime Ministers. Through an analysis of the relative impact of political strategy, the power of the media, and British public opinion, the essay argues that addressing party management and electoral concerns has been the primary influence on David Cameron’s decision and contends that Cameron has unwittingly unleashed a Pandora’s box that could pave the way for a British exit from the European Union. Acknowledgments First, I would like to thank the Bates Summer Research Fellowship, without which I would not have had the opportunity to complete my research in London. To Professor Peter Swenson and the members of The Senior Colloquium, Gabe Botelho, Josh Kalla, Gabe Levine, Mary Shi, and Joel Sircus, who provided excellent advice and criticism. To Professor David Cameron, without whom I never would have discovered my interest in European politics. To David Fayngor, who flew halfway across the world to keep me company during my summer research. To my mom for her unwavering support and my dad for his careful proofreading. And finally, to my adviser Professor Jolyon Howorth, who worked with me on this project for over a year and a half.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey Report
    R YouGov / Daily Telegraph Survey Results YouGov Sample Size: 1926 Fieldwork: 25th - 27th March 2008 For detailed results, click here % Headline Voting Intention Con 43 Lab 29 Lib Dem 17 Other 11 Other Parties Voting Intention SNP / PCY 3 Green 2 UKIP 3 BNP 3 Respect 0 Other 1 Non Voters Would Not Vote 8 Don't know 14 Do you approve or disapprove of the Government’s record to date? Approve 21 Disapprove 64 Don’t know 16 Which of these would make the best Prime Minister? Gordon Brown 24 David Cameron 32 Nick Clegg 7 Don’t know 37 Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister? Satisfied 23 Dissatisfied 63 Don’t know 14 Do you think that David Cameron is or is not proving a good leader of the Conservative Party? Is proving a good leader 44 Is not proving a good leader 34 Don’t know 23 If you had to choose which would you prefer to see after the next election a Conservative government led by David Cameron or a Labour government led by Gordon Brown? Conservative government led by David Cameron 47 Labour government led by Gordon Brown 35 Don’t know 19 1 © 2008 YouGov plc. All Rights Reserved www.yougov.com R % YouGov Suppose a Conservative Government were formed under David Cameron which of these three statements would come nearest your own reaction? I would be delighted 22 I would be dismayed 32 I wouldn’t mind 33 Don’t know 13 Which party do you think is more likely to run Britain’s economy well – the Conservatives or the Labour Party? Conservative 35 Labour 27 Neither 27 Don’t know 12 Do you think that Alistair Darling is doing a good job or a bad job as Chancellor of the Exchequer? A good job 14 A bad job 56 Don’t know 30 How do you think the financial situation of your household will change over the next 12 months? Get a lot better 2 Get a little better 10 Stay the same 20 Get a little worse 40 Get a lot worse 24 Don’t know 4 A lot of people at the moment are critical of the overall performance of Gordon Brown and the Labour Government.
    [Show full text]
  • Thecoalition
    The Coalition Voters, Parties and Institutions Welcome to this interactive pdf version of The Coalition: Voters, Parties and Institutions Please note that in order to view this pdf as intended and to take full advantage of the interactive functions, we strongly recommend you open this document in Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free to download and you can do so from the Adobe website (click to open webpage). Navigation • Each page includes a navigation bar with buttons to view the previous and next pages, along with a button to return to the contents page at any time • You can click on any of the titles on the contents page to take you directly to each article Figures • To examine any of the figures in more detail, you can click on the + button beside each figure to open a magnified view. You can also click on the diagram itself. To return to the full page view, click on the - button Weblinks and email addresses • All web links and email addresses are live links - you can click on them to open a website or new email <>contents The Coalition: Voters, Parties and Institutions Edited by: Hussein Kassim Charles Clarke Catherine Haddon <>contents Published 2012 Commissioned by School of Political, Social and International Studies University of East Anglia Norwich Design by Woolf Designs (www.woolfdesigns.co.uk) <>contents Introduction 03 The Coalition: Voters, Parties and Institutions Introduction The formation of the Conservative-Liberal In his opening paper, Bob Worcester discusses Democratic administration in May 2010 was a public opinion and support for the parties in major political event.
    [Show full text]
  • Where Next for the Liberal Democrats?
    Where next for the Liberal Democrats? Tim Bale Aron Cheung Alan Wager It has, to put it mildly, been a difficult twelve months for the Liberal Democrats. A year ago this week, polling conducted by YouGov and Ipsos Mori showed their support at 20% – a level the party had not enjoyed since they’d entered their ill-fated coalition with the Conservatives in the spring of 2010. Nine long years later, they were daring to dream once again: could it be that, under Jo Swinson, we would soon see the UK’s electoral map coloured with the same amount of Lib Dem yellow that Charles Kennedy and, latterly, Nick Clegg had once achieved? The answer, of course, was no. The general election that followed was a not just an electoral disappointment but a disaster – so much so that Swinson herself lost her seat. Not only that, but the party’s main policy aim – to reverse the Brexit decision – lay in tatters. Yet, despite these setbacks, the new electoral geography of the post-Brexit era brings with it challenges but also opportunities for the Liberal Democrats – existential questions but also, if they can exploit their new electoral coalition, some potential answers. This short paper hopes to set all this out just as ballots open for the party’s new leader. Putting the 2019 result in historical context The eleven seats the Liberal Democrats won in December 2019 may have represented a slight decline on the dozen the party achieved in 2017 under Tim Farron; but they also represented a near-halving of the 21 which, following multiple defections, the party went into the general election defending.
    [Show full text]
  • The Liberal Democrat Journey to a LIB-Con Coalition and Where Next?
    The LiberaL Democrat Journey To a LIB-CoN CoaLITIoN aNd where NexT? Southbank house, Black Prince road, London Se1 7SJ T: +44 (0) 20 7463 0632 | [email protected] www.compassonline.org.uk richard S Grayson The LiberaL Democrat Journey To a LIB-CoN CoaLITIoN – aNd where NexT? richard S Grayson 2 about the author Dr Richard Grayson is Head of Politics at Goldsmiths, University of London, and is one of three vice-chairs of the Liberal Democrat Federal Policy Committee, but writes here in a personal capacity. He was the party’s Director of Policy in 1999–2004 and stood for Parliament in Hemel Hempstead in 2005 and 2010, adding over 10% to the party’s vote. He was one of the founders of the Social Liberal Forum and was the first chair of its Executive. In September 2010 he takes up the post of Professor of Twentieth Century History at Goldsmiths. Published by Compass − Direction for the Democratic Left Ltd Southbank House, Black Prince Road, London SE1 7SJ T: +44 (0) 207 463 0632 [email protected] www.compassonline.org.uk Designed by SoapBox, www.soapboxcommunications.co.uk 3 The Liberal democrat ning both needs to be understood. Doing so begins with a story about how it is possible that a journey to a Lib–Con party which has often over the past decade been seen as ‘left of Labour’ on civil liberties, demo - coalition – and where cratic reform, taxation and public services is engaged quite so enthusiastically in reducing the next? size of the state.
    [Show full text]
  • David Cameron and Nick Clegg Are Stretching the British Constitution, but Our Confrontational Style of Politics Looks Set to Continue
    democraticaudit.com http://www.democraticaudit.com/?p=8468 David Cameron and Nick Clegg are stretching the British constitution, but our confrontational style of politics looks set to continue By Democratic Audit UK Few expected the Coalition Government formed in the wake of the 2010 General Election to last as long as it has. This has been made possible by a process of what Stephen Barber described as ‘stretching’ of the constitution, disregarding some conventions while altering others. Despite this, our confrontational style of politics doesn’t look set to end any time soon, with a power-sharing culture and tone of respectful difference seemingly as far off as ever. Credit: Nick Page, CC BY 2.0 Conference season before a general election is the opportunity for parties to present themselves as credible occupants of ministerial office. Three things are different this year, however. Firstly, the date of the general election is actually known. Secondly, the parties which have been in coalition government together for four years are openly distancing themselves from each other. And thirdly, policy pledges are being framed not only to attract voters but also as potential bargaining chips to negotiate a new coalition should a hung parliament result in May. The Fixed Term Parliament Act aside, planned constitutional reform has fallen well short of expectations since 2010 as House of Lords reform, ‘equalising’ boundaries, reducing the number of MPs and the Alternative Vote have all fallen by the wayside. That said belated pledges to devolve even more power to Scotland will be meaningful in time. But the biggest impact has been the stretching of the constitution to accommodate two parties in office by way of collective responsibility and prerogative powers – not to mention the new role of manifestos as documents to negotiate a Coalition Agreement.
    [Show full text]
  • Memo: Facebook Is Failing Its Own Election Tests
    MEMO: FACEBOOK IS FAILING ITS OWN ELECTION TESTS Facebook has failed to deliver on a slew of public commitments it made before, during, and after Election Day -- and the damage is far from over. In September 2020, Mark Zuckerberg said that for Facebook, the U.S. presidential election “is not going to be business as usual.” In October 2020, Facebook’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg made an even bolder commitment: “Today we can say it: we are ready.” The weeks since have shown how woefully unprepared Facebook was to protect the integrity of the 2020 election. Despite warnings from election and technology experts, Facebook failed to meet a slew of important policy commitments it made to the public, including on misinformation, false claims of victory, advertisements, false claims of voter fraud, and incitement of violence. When evaluating the company against its own promises, a clear picture emerges: Facebook’s measures were inconsistent, reactionary, and inadequate -- often written to avoid responsibility and prioritize the protection of its own image above American democracy. FACEBOOK ON GROUPS (10/7/20): “We continue to take down content proactively, including in groups that are private. We also -- once we have misinformation that our third party fact checker has rated, we also match it to content inside private groups and that ensures that even those spaces are spaces where our [policies] are enforced.” ACCOUNTABLE TECH WARNING: “Facebook Groups pose a singular threat to this election season. They’ve become
    [Show full text]
  • POLITICAL MONITOR February 2013
    POLITICAL MONITOR February 2013 Contacts: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 020 7347 3000 Voting Intentions Voting Intention: all giving an opinion vs. those “certain to vote” 3 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? All giving a voting All certain to vote: 54% intention: 79% 11% 12% Labour 8% 31% 9% 30% Conservative Lib Dem 9% 7% UKIP Other 41% 42% Conservative lead = -10 Conservative lead = -12 Base: 1,018 British adults 18+, 9th -11th February 2013, all certain to vote = 562 Source: Ipsos MORI Political Monitor Voting Intentions January ‘03 – February ‘13 (all certain to vote) 4 How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? 2005 Howard elected Brown as PM 2010 General (Jun 07) (Nov 03) Election General Election 50 Cameron elected (Dec 05) 42% 40 30 30% 20 10 7% A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A J O A D F A D F A D F A D F F A D F A D F A D F A D F A D F A D F u u u u 0 u u u u u u e e e e e e e e e e e p p p p p p p p p p u u u u u u u u u u e e e e e e e e e e c c c c c c c c c c n n n n n n n n n n b b b b b b b b b b b r r r r r r r r r r g g g g g g g g g g t t t t t t t t t t c c c c c c c c c c - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 Base: c.
    [Show full text]
  • Despite Disastrous Election Results and an Attempted Leadership Coup, There’S Still Hope for the Lib Dems
    Despite disastrous election results and an attempted leadership coup, there’s still hope for the Lib Dems blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/despite-an-attempted-leadership-coup-theres-still-hope-for-the/ 5/28/2014 Following disastrous results in the European and local elections, calls for Nick Clegg to step down as leader of the Liberal Democrats have grown stronger. Lord Oakeshott, a Lib Dem peer, has today resigned after it has emerged that he commissioned polls showing that sitting Lib Dem MPs would be trounced if Clegg remained leader. Nevertheless, Tim Oliver still sees hope for the future. They are the lease impacted by the rise of UKIP (and may even benefit from Labour’s susceptibility), Oakeshott’s poll also reveals many Lib Dem MPs will be hard to unseat, and Clegg is unlikely to face another leadership challenge before next May. The European and local elections were disastrous for the Liberal Democrats. With a single MEP left, and with the loss of over 300 councillors, the party emerged from the trauma of Thursday battered and bruised. It was unsurprising that there was an attempt to change leader launched in the aftermath of these results. Lib Dems 4 Change launched their online petition on Friday, and the debate within the party only grew more intense as the weekend wore on, and the party’s grim European results were announced. It culminated with the leak to The Guardian of an ICM poll in 4 Lib Dem held seats , which apparently showed that all the incumbents would lose, often by impressive margins, if Nick Clegg remained leader, and that the damage would be contained somewhat if another person; Vince Cable or Tim Farron, were made leader.
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Bossetta Phd Thesis
    The Digital Architectures of Social Media Platforms and Participation in Contemporary Politics Bossetta, Michael 2019 Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Bossetta, M. (2019). The Digital Architectures of Social Media: Platforms and Participation in Contemporary Politics. Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. Total number of authors: 1 General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Bossetta Michael university of copenhagen FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
    [Show full text]
  • Nick Clegg's Performance at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference
    blogs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2011/09/22/nick-clegg-liberal-democrat-conference/ Nick Clegg’s performance at the Liberal Democrat party conference proves that he has won the match for now, but for this ‘government of two halves’, the season is a long one. Following a torrid year in government, Nick Clegg has faced down his party’s conference without any embarrassing policy reversals. Disaffected Lib Dems might be placated by the string of promises laid out by the party’s big brass, which will be unpalatable to their partners in government, but if a week is a long time in politics, Nick Clegg has a painfully long fight against the threat of end of season relegation yet to come, argues Matt Cole. An odd coincidence on Saturday morning found the Liberal Democrat top brass sharing the lobby of their conference hotel with the first eleven of Queen’s Park Rangers, up for an away fixture. The team recently promoted to the top flight had been finding it hard to make an impact against bigger, more experienced outfits, and were looking uncertain; QPR, by contrast, seemed in good spirits. If the press were to be believed, whilst Neil Warnock’s men were about to play Wolves, Nick Clegg’s feared being thrown to them when conference began later that afternoon. Controversial QPR captain Joey Barton even tweeted that he was available to give Clegg advice if he wanted, and as one BBC reporter remarked, if Barton is offering you his services for conflict resolution, you know you’re in trouble.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mediatized Manifesto (Or the Strange Case of Nick Clegg)
    The mediatized manifesto (or the strange case of Nick Clegg) Prepared for the Political Studies Association Annual Meeting, Cardiff, Wales, March 2013 ####Please note that this is a very early draft. Comments and suggestions welcome. Please contact me if you wish to cite#### Nick Anstead Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science The mediatized manifesto (or the strange case of Nick Clegg) Abstract Election manifestos are an important object of study for political scientists. Work in this area has largely focused on two research questions: quantifying the relative positions of political parties on a left-right spectrum and assessing the success of parties in achieving their legislative agendas. What is not really discussed in the literature though is the broader question of the relationship between the party manifesto and political communication. In other words, what happens to the content of the manifesto when it enters the public sphere in press releases and news reports, and how do the priorities laid out in the formal document differ from the policy emphasis in political coverage? Using the 2010 Liberal Democrat campaign as an example, this paper will employ the computer aided content analysis program Wordstat to analyse the Liberal Democrat manifesto, party and leader press releases, and election news coverage, to ask whether the manifesto has been mediatized, and if so what does this mean for traditional ideas of political accountability? The mediatized manifesto (or the strange case of Nick Clegg) Enoch Powell famously noted that “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs” (Powell 1977).
    [Show full text]