Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- PART 1 Politics and government
- 1 The Blair premiership
- 2 Parliament
- 3 Elections and public opinion
- 4 Local and central government
- 5 Media management
- 6 The Labour Party
- 7 The Conservative Party
- PART 2 Economic and social policy
- PART 3 Wider relations
- Commentaries
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Media management
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- PART 1 Politics and government
- 1 The Blair premiership
- 2 Parliament
- 3 Elections and public opinion
- 4 Local and central government
- 5 Media management
- 6 The Labour Party
- 7 The Conservative Party
- PART 2 Economic and social policy
- PART 3 Wider relations
- Commentaries
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The major focus of media management during Blair's second term was on the war in Iraq. During the prolonged run-up to the outbreak of hostilities in spring 2003 the government used the news media to put across its case, albeit with mixed success in terms of influencing public opinion regarding the legitimacy of military action in the absence of a second United Nations resolution. During the pre-war phase, the war itself and the weeks immediately following the downfall of the Saddam Hussein regime, Downing Street pursued a bitter campaign against the BBC regarding the Corporation's alleged anti-government bias on the issue of Iraq. The breakdown in the relationship between Number 10 and the Corporation finally came to a head over allegations made in late May on the Radio Four Today programme by its defence and diplomatic correspondent, Andrew Gilligan, that the government had knowingly misinformed the public in presenting the case for war. This broadcast, which indirectly led a few weeks later to the suicide of the government scientist and former weapons inspector, Dr David Kelly, was at the heart of the inquiry led by Lord Hutton into the circumstances surrounding Kelly's death. The Hutton Report, published at the start of 2004, exculpated the government from responsibility and instead directed its fire at the BBC. Its publication was swiftly followed by the resignation of the chairman of the BBC Board of Governors, Gavyn Davies, the Director General, Greg Dyke, and Gilligan himself.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Blair Effect 2001–5 , pp. 94 - 111Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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