Bob Franklin - Televising Democracies

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
TELEVISION

Volume 4

TELEVISING DEMOCRACIES

TELEVISING DEMOCRACIES

Edited by
BOB FRANKLIN

First published 1992

This edition first published in 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

1992 Bob Franklin

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-415-82199-5 (Set)
eISBN: 978-0-203-51517-4 (Set)
ISBN: 978-0-415-83692-0 (Volume 4)
eISBN: 978-0-203-69423-7 (Volume 4)

Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.

Televising Democracies

Edited by Bob Franklin

First published 1992
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1992 Bob Franklin

Set in 10/12pt Times by Selectmove
Printed and bound in Great Britain by T J Press (Padstow) Ltd,
Padstow, Cornwall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Televising democracies.
1. Politics. Effects of television
I. Franklin, Bob
320

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Televising democracies/edited by Bob Franklin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons Television broadcasting of proceedings. 2. Legislative bodies Television broadcasting of proceedings. I. Franklin, Bob, 1949.
JN611.T45 1992

ISBN 041507021X
ISBN 0415070228 pbk

Edited books are necessarily a collective and co-operative enterprise and I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the contributors who have written about their perceptions, experiences and studies of the experiment in televising the Commons for this book. Broadcasters, politicians and academics typically work under pressure and I was, on occasion, very conscious that people were making considerable efforts to find time for one more commitment in an already hectic schedule. Christine Bailey, of the Institute of Communication Studies at the University of Leeds, has, as always, been greatly supportive in the book's production. Thanks also to Brian Tutt and David Mercer, who were excellent colleagues, good friends and fellow members of the Parliamentary Research Group at the University of Leeds. Many others are owed thanks for their contribution to the book, including Ruth Battye and Pauline Weston from the Department of Politics, University of Keele, Barbara Edmundson and Paul Nicholson from Computing Services at the University of Leeds, Peter Humphries from the Department of Government, University of Manchester, Roger Bufton and John Conway from BBC Regional Programming, News and Current Affairs, and Michael Fay, IBA Regional Officer for Yorkshire. Many thanks also to Margaret Douglas, Chief Adviser on Policy and Planning at the BBC.

Special thanks are due to Jay Blunder and Tom Nossiter, who were my colleagues at the Centre for Television Research from 1985 to 1990. They supported and guided my early work in the field of political communications, infused me with some of their energy and enthusiasm for the enterprise, but, most importantly, introduced me to the delights as well as frustrations involved in conducting serious social science research. The centre was not always an easy place in which to work, especially when the workload was punitive, but it was never dull. I feel I was very lucky to have the opportunity to work closely with two such distinguished scholars and, more importantly, demanding teachers.

The final but most important acknowledgement is for the support offered over many years by my father Arthur Franklin, until his death in January 1988. As with so many people of his generation and class, the educational system denied him any opportunities to develop his undoubted skills, intellect and abilities. He was a gentle man, with a great gift for telling stories. He was rarely quiet. I doubt that he really understood what was involved in being a student, much less a teacher, in a university. But he was immensely proud of me, always supported me and read, conscientiously and with great relish, everything I published. He would have been very proud of his son's involvement in this book and told his mates at work all about it. It is dedicated to his memory.

I am grateful for this opportunity to offer a few words of introduction to this interesting and lively collection of essays on the recent experiment in the televising of proceedings of the House of Commons. The editor, Dr Bob Franklin of the Department of Politics at Keele University, is already well known to many Members through his leading role in the detailed study commissioned by the Select Committee on Televising of Proceedings of the House on the use made by the broadcasters of the signals from the Chamber and committees. I pay tribute to his achievement in bringing together within a single volume such a distinguished and disparate set of authors.

The common thread running through all these contributions is the feeling that, while the task of televising the work of the House was in many ways, not least technically, something of a leap in the dark, the resulting success of the operation has surprised even the most dedicated and persistent champions of the cause. Perhaps more significant is the extent to which those who initially harboured some misgivings (among whom I cautiously number myself) have been won over albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm by the practical realities of televising. Indeed, so far has the issue now been anaesthetized as a source of controversy that in July 1990 only 32 Members voted against the motion approving the Select Committee's recommendation that televising be made permanent, compared with 264 who had opposed the holding of an experiment in 1988.