The Prime Ministerial Debates of 2010: Evidence, Evaluation and Some Recommendations
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Coleman cover_Layout 1 27/01/2011 11:26 Page 1 Stephen Coleman RISJ REUTERS REUTERS CHALLENGES INSTITUTE for the STUDY of INSTITUTE for the JOURNALISM CHALLENGES STUDY of JOURNALISM Contributors | Jay G. Blumler in the Living Room Leaders is study explores the first-ever British televised prime Stephen Coleman Leaders in the Living Room ministerial debates with a view to understanding how they were William H. Dutton received by the public; how they were depicted in the press and on Andrew Shipley The Prime Ministerial Debates of 2010: television; and how far they registered online. Rather than asking Fabro Steibel 'who won?', the aim was to understand how far the debates Michael Thelwall Evidence, Evaluation and Some Recommendations contributed to an improved democratic relationship between politicians and citizens. Based on a range of research methods, and involving researchers from three universities, this study contributes innovatively to the global literature on debates research. Edited by Stephen Coleman “Leaders in the Living Room sets out compelling evidence that the election debates energised young voters, better informed those normally less interested in politics and improved knowledge of party policies for a significant majority of the electorate. To those who still doubt whether they were beneficial, the authors have come back with a telling answer: that people felt able to act as more confident citizens because of the debates. e research has captured that sense of engagement in the campaign which the debates generated and will make it much harder to argue that they should not become a permanent feature of British elections and democracy.” Ric Bailey BBC Chief Political Adviser and BBC debate negotiator “A path breaking study that has much to teach scholars and students of debates.” Kathleen Hall Jamieson Director, Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania Stephen Coleman is Professor of Political Communication at the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds. e production of this study was a team effort, involving all those named on the inside front page. 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Dutton Andrew Shipley Fabro Steibel Michael Thelwall REUTERS INSTITUTE for the STUDY of JOURNALISM Coleman 2b_Layout 2 27/01/2011 09:44 Page ii Coleman 2b_Layout 2 27/01/2011 09:44 Page iii Contents PREFACE 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 Chapter 1 Innovation in Political Communication, Innovation in Research 7 Jay G. Blumler Political communication 7 The research 13 Chapter 2 Media Coverage of the Prime Ministerial Debates 17 Stephen Coleman, Fabro Steibel and Jay G. Blumler Our questions: systemic rather than individual effects 18 Method of inquiry 20 A profile of press broadcast coverage 21 Game–substance balance 23 Concocting a civic mix: a realistic assessment 27 The politics–democracy balance 31 Chapter 3 Voters’ Responses to the Prime Ministerial Debates: A Rock of (Future?) Ages 35 Jay G. Blumler The big picture 37 Young voters and the debates 43 What about the Liberal Democrats? 48 Other correlates of debates viewing 51 The problematics of communication in British politics 52 iii Coleman 2b_Layout 2 27/01/2011 09:44 Page iv RISJ CHALLENGES | Leaders in the Living Room Chapter 4 Debates in the Blogosphere 55 Michael Thelwall Volume of blogger interest in the TV debates 56 Content analysis of blogs referring to the TV debates 58 Key political bloggers 62 Conclusion 64 Chapter 5 Evaluating the Debates – 2010 and Beyond 67 Stephen Coleman Lessons for political communication 67 Debates as democratic drama 70 Building trust through a culture of debate 72 Making sense of political talk 74 APPENDIX A The Role of the Debates in Shaping Political Engagement 79 William H. Dutton and Andrew Shipley Methodology 80 Analysis 81 Summary 88 Technical note 88 APPENDIX B Full List of Questions for Blog Coders – and Coders’ Instructions 91 References 93 iv Coleman 2b_Layout 2 27/01/2011 09:44 Page 1 Preface e design and execution of the research presented in this study derived from a collaboration, forged shortly aer the announcement that prime ministerial debates would take place, between scholars at the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford and the University of Wolverhampton. e participating scholars were: • Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds; • Jay G. Blumler, Emeritus Professor of Public Communication, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds; • William H. Dutton, Professor of Internet Studies, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; • Michael elwall, Professor of Computing and Information Technology, University of Wolverhampton; • Fabro Steibel, PhD student, Institute of Communications Studies University of Leeds; • Andrew Shipley, DPhil student, Brasenose College, University of Oxford. e research was made possible by a grant from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, for the prompt allocation of which we are most grateful. Data from voters and debate viewers were obtained from polls conducted by the YouGov organisation, which also speedily supplied us with numerous tabulations of the results. 1 Coleman 2b_Layout 2 27/01/2011 09:44 Page 2 RISJ CHALLENGES | Leaders in the Living Room We would like to thank Professor Jack McLeod of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for his very helpful comments on Chapter 3. anks are due to Fabro Steibel for his outstanding work on this project, which was certainly beyond the call of duty. 2 Coleman 2b_Layout 2