Bored Media Lap Up The Controversy

November 18, 2002

Is any more evidence needed of how bored the media are with the campaign than the treatment of the Robert Dean saga? It is fascinating to note that this single act of stupidity has attracted more media and more analysis than the myriad of policy announcements that have sustained the campaign. For many voters, this is the first major impression that the campaign has made on their thinking. Given the amount of attention devoted to it, one could easily be excused for thinking that the incident meant something significant.

As well as reflecting the broader trends of a trivia obsessed media, the incident has demonstrated that the media are milling around, bored, and looking for scandal and gossip. When it emerged, the media lapped it up, pursuing every angle, interviewing every incidental character and making wildly fanciful assumptions based on a single, stupid mistake.

In substance, however, did it make a real difference? Is it fair to say that because of a single member’s mistake that the Liberals were therefore unfit to govern, or was this the spin placed on the story by Bracks, and subsequently adopted by the media. There are a range of reasons why the Liberals are unfit to govern – the fact that Robert Dean forgot to have his mail forwarded to his new address is not one of them.

Compare the coverage given to the Dean saga with the coverage given to the release of Treasury figures under the charter of budget honesty. Whilst clearly having greater significance in the governance of Victoria, the coverage of the budget figures was small and the questioning not particularly probing. The same cannot be said of Robert Dean. We eagerly await the announcement that Dr Dean is the new host of Hot Property.

Given the pace of an election campaign, Robert Dean is ancient history come early next week. The impression, however, is that this event is not likely to be replaced by substantive policy announcements. More likely, it’ll be replaced by another gaffe, another misspoken word or error-ridden policy document, such is the nature of the campaign.

The focus on gaffes, and anything that diverts at all from the tightly prepared script is seized upon. This is largely a product of the short leashes which each of the leaders are on. This phenomena was documented brilliantly in 1996, when Santo Cilauro followed the Keating campaign, and saw how closely prepared each campaign event was, and how any chance of spontaneity was minimised. The theory behind this approach is clear. The fewer the campaign messages for the day, the more likely those preferred messages will shape the day’s news coverage. The more wide ranging and unfocused the message, the more likely that the candidate will lose control of the story and the ability to shape the coverage. The other advantage, of course, is that the less a candidate says, the less chance they will say something wrong.

In 1999 Jeff Kennett tried to take this approach to the extreme, by preventing his Liberal colleagues from speaking in public on anything, hence making him the sole focus in the coverage of the Liberals. Given the flack copped by Kennett for his efforts in 1999, it is no surprise that Doyle and Bracks haven’t gone to Kennett’s extreme. They have, however, followed the approach of the tight script.

The first two weeks may have been clean, but wait for things to get dirty during the run home to election day. Reports over the weekend suggested that the ALP have resorted to push polling in key inner city seats, where the Greens are the threat. Whilst it is hard to know the accuracy of the reports, no one in the ALP has denied the claim. Push polling is a tactic developed in the United States (where even there, in the home of political consultancy and campaign tricks, it is considered unethical). Essentially, it uses the premise of polling to speak to a large number of voters, and uses the power of suggestion to demonise one’s opponent. In this case in inner Melbourne, the push polling is feeding fears about some of the Greens excesses, and the likelihood of a Greens/Liberal agreement in the new parliament. Given this polling, it would be surprising if the Greens didn’t hit back, 'outing' the ALP for its push polling, and emphasising the similarities in policy between Bracks and Kennett.

For a bored media, this will be a Godsend - just sit back, and watch the dirt fly!

Ari Sharp is the Australian Democrats candidate for the East Yarra byelection in the 2002 State Election. This is his personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Democrats. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------