Political Communication – Com3707

Political Communication – COM3707

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Table of contents

1 INTRODUCTION 2 DEFINITION AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MEDIA AND IMAGEMANAGEMENT 3 ASPECTS OF POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS 3.1 Media Management 3.1.1 Debates 3.1.2 Party conferences 3.1.3 Photo-opportunities 3.1.4 Meta-coverage 3.1.5 News conferences 3.1.6Public relations professionals 3.2 Image Management 4 THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT 5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MEDIA AND POLITICAL PARTIES 6 CONCLUSION SOURCES CONSULTED

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INTRODUCTION In the political environment there are many factors that can lead to an election being won or lost. One of the most important factors in this environment for any politician or political party is the manner in which the media portrays them. It is, therefore, of utmost importance that politicians pay attention to the manner in which they manage their relationships with the media how they manage their image. In this essay we will look at these issues, starting with a brief definition and historical overview, followed by the forms of public relations activities. We will also look at why it is important for politicians to pay attention to public relations and lastly we will look at the relationship between politicians and the media.

2 DEFINITION AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF MEDIA AND IMAGE MANAGEMENT Media and image management are forms of political public relations. Political public relations is very important to political organisation, because it deals with the type of political communication, which is seen by the public as unbiased (Karam, Sonderling and Zwane 2001:77). It is seen as unbiased because political organisations do not pay for these messages to be disseminated about them (i.e. “free media”). Since they do not pay to receive this coverage, the public finds these messages much more believable, than other paid forms of media, such as advertising. The fact that the political...