The emotional politics of UK media reporting on the EU

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (@KarinWahlJ)Cardiff University, Wales, UK

The emotional politics of UK media reporting on the EU

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The emotional politics of UK media reporting on the EUHistory of Euro-scepticism in the UKBBC Breadth of Opinion Impartiality Review : Privileging of Conservative party voicesUnderstanding Britains relationship with Europe through the lens of party-political conflictEU Referendum reporting:Negative emotional politicsProject Fear, Bregrexit

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History of Euro-scepticismLong-standing debates over democratic deficitIsland mentality and fear of the European superstate (e.g. Wring, 2016)Research: Positive dimensions of EU membership consistently understated (Anderson and Weymouth, 1999; Gavin, 2000; 2001)European project as a Franco-German conspiracy against British interests (e.g. Daddow, 2011, 2012; Hawkins, 2012). 2014 EU Parliament Elections: Triumph of Eurosceptic parties across Europe Rise of UK Independence Party: 28% of votes in 2014 EU elections 4 million+ votes in the 2015 General ElectionWon seven seats in the 2016 Welsh Assembly elections

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Our research: Breadth of opinion on Britains relationship to EuropeBBC Breadth of Opinion Impartiality Review, 2012-2013Selected BBC coverage of contentious topics, including Britain's Relationship to Europe, in 2007 and in 2012Sample: Five weeks of programming in October and November 2007 and 2012 (online, radio, TV)208 stories138 online; 70 broadcast (38 radio, 32 television)966 source appearance

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SampleTelevision:BBC News at Ten (BBC One)BBC Breakfast 7-8 am (BBC OneNewsnight (BBC Two)RadioToday programme 7-8.30 am (Radio 4)Newsbeat at 12.45 pm (Radio 15 Live Breakfast, Your Call 9-10 am (Radio 5 Live). Online

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Frequency of source types, by yearSource type2007N (%)2012N (%)Political sources273 (65%)431 (79.2%)Media/journalists36 (8.6%)40 (7.4%)Member of the public18 (4.3%)11 (2%)Business/private company/economy12 (2.9%)10 (1.8%)NGOs/charities/activists/pressure groups10 (2.4%)7 (1.3%)Academics/expert/science/tech/medical10 (2.4%)1 (0.2%)Think tank7 (1.7%)10 (1.8%)Public Sector7 (1.7%)5 (0.9%)Judiciary/legal6 (1.4%)5 (0.9%)Trade Union2 (0.5%)0 (0%)Other39 (9.3%)24 (4.4%)Total420 (100%)544 (100%)

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Political party affiliation of sourceParty2007N(%)2012N(%)Conservative50 (38.8%)107 (46.9%)Labour56 (43.4%)69 (30.3%)Liberal Democrat16 (12.4%)14 (6.1%)Scottish National Party(0 (0%)24 (10.1%)UKIP4 (3.1%)4 (1.8%)

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Patterns in 2016 referendum coverage

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Patterns in 2016 referendum coverageLevy et al (2016): Study of sample from three months of referendum coverage in 9 national newspapers1558 articles focused on the referendum Spokespeople: 35% UK politicians70% Conservatives 13% Labour8% UKIP41% were in favour of leaving27% in favour of staying in the EU. 23% mixed or undecided, 9% no position

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Findings: Focus on party-political conflictTopics covered through the lens of political infighting between Labour and the Conservatives EU:2007: Lisbon Treaty2012: EU budgetDominance of Eurosceptic perspectives

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2016 EU Referendum: Emotional politicsAppeal to the gut, and the heart (Gavin Hewitt)Project FearLeave: Fear over immigration and the encroachment of the EU on national sovereigntyRemain: Accused of whipping up anxiety over the potential economic consequences of Brexit.

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2016 EU Referendum: Emotional politicsLacking grounds for optimism, and feeling remote from the levers of power, the disappointed nurse their grievances until along come politicians who tell them that they are right to be angry, that their resentments are justified, and that they should be mad not just at the winners but at immigrants, too. Trump and Farage are the latest and most successful of these political opportunists. Sadly, they are unlikely to be the last (John Cassidy, New Yorker)

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Brexit grief and regret

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Brexit grief and regret

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ReferencesBerry, M., Wahl-Jorgensen, K., Garcia-Blanco, I; Bennett, L., and Cable, J. (under review). Public service broadcasting and the European Union. Submitted to Journalism Studies.Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2016). How project fear turned into Bregrexit. The Conversation, July 8, https://theconversation.com/how-project-fear-turned-into-bregrexit-61891 Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2016). The Emotional Politics of the EU Referendum: Bregrexit and beyond. In D. Jackson, E. Thorsen and D. Wring. (Eds.), EU Referendum Analysis 2016: Media, voters and the campaign. Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community, Bournemouth University. Available at: http://www.referendumanalysis.eu/Wahl-Jorgensen, K, Berry, M, Garcia-Blanco, I, Bennett, L and Cable, J (2016). Rethinking balance and impartiality in journalism? How the BBC attempted and failed to change the paradigm. Journalism.Wahl-Jorgensen, K, Sambrook, R., Berry, M., Moore, K., Bennett, L., Cable, J., Garcia-Blanco, I., Kidd, J., Dencik, L., and Hintz, A. (2013) BBC Breadth of Opinion Review Content Analysis. Available at http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/breadth_opinion/content_analysis.pdf.

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