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The relationship between politicians & the media
Clearly, relationships and contacts are important in journalism. You cannot break stories without a source. But there is evidence that personal relationships are too close which can affect journalists' bias, what issues they are consider important and how certain people are treated over others.
The revolving door
Between politics, business and the media, there is a revolving door of people constantly switching career within these industries. For example:
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Many prominent politicians worked in the media before and while being an MP, do media work while sitting as an MP, or get prominent media roles after leaving politics
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Politicians and civil servants moving from their roles into prominent media positions
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Journalists leaving their roles to work for the Government in their communications/spin teams.
Personal relationships
The line between media and politics is also blurred when it comes to personal lives. There are many politicians and journalists who are married to, having an affair with, or mates with each other.
The below video shows Good Morning Britain presenter Ed Balls (also former Labour MP and Cabinet Minister), interview his wife, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP.
Here is an example from the previous Government:
Here, is Rachel Johnson, on one of BBC's biggest politics shows in January 2023. Never mentioning in their promotion that she is the former PM's sister.
Rupert Murdoch's relationship with politicians
Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sun, The Times and Fox, is arguably the most influential person in British politics. His media dominance gives him immense power to influence public opinion, at least in the eyes of the politicians that desperately try and get on his good side.
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Between October 2022- September 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak personally met Rupert Murdoch, with other senior members of Murdoch's media empire five times. Meetings covered the 'PM’s priorities', 'political discussion' and a 'social meetings'.
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In October 2022, Rupert Murdoch, paid £11,000 for Boris Johnson to visit him in America
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Labour leader Kier Starmer has shown desire to get Murdoch's ear by having champagne together at Murdoch's summer party in June 2023. Starmer may also have agreed to back off from further press regulation and reform, in exchange from an endorsement from The Sun at the 2024 General Election.
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This not a new phenomenon. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was famous for his close ties the billionaire. It is suspected that Murdoch is godfather to one of Blair’s children. This close relationship may explain why Blair helped close allies of Murdoch avoid accountability when they broke the law. Blair advised former The Sun editor Rebekah Brooks on how to handle questioning days before her arrest for phone hacking.
The Lebedevs and Boris Johnson
In 2009, Russian billionaire and former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev bought a controlling stake in the Evening Standard and later The Independent. Alexander's son, Evgeny, became director of these publications.
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While the Lebedevs have never donated to the Conservative Party, they were able to use their connections made through their media ownership to get close to senior party politicians. They hired George Osborne, former Chancellor to be the Evening Standard's editor (where he did some PR favours for Tory Government pals during the COVID pandemic). The Standard also backed Johnson in his mayoral campaign and endorsed him to become Prime Minister.
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Evgeny's position got him particularly close to Boris Johnson. It is not uncommon for politicians and media figures to become friends in this country. However, this particular relationship caused a scandal in 2018, while Johnson was Foreign Secretary. On the 29 April 2018, Johnson was pictured at an Italian airport looking hungover. It transpired that the night before he was at a Party at Lebedev's mansion. The timing of this is strange as he had just returned from a meeting with the US Government and other NATO leaders about the nerve agent poisonings that happened at a restaurant in Salisbury, for which Russia was reportedly responsible. Johnson did not make take his officials with him to Lebedev's mansion, nor did he even tell them about it, While Johnson as not "aware" of discussing Government business with the Lebedevs, it is rumoured he agreed to a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Larov which was never declared.
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Boris Johnson made Evgeny Lebedev a Lord in 2020 apparently against the advice of Parliament advisors and to the indignation of his political allies. Despite the power and influence that a position in the Lords could bring, Evgeny appears only often enough to trigger a suspension.
Networking events
Journalists and politicians spend a lot of their free time together at drinks parties and various networking events.
One of the most famous of these is the Spectator Garden Party, which takes place every summer. All the most important people from journalism and government turn up to this event.
Rupert Murdoch also hosts swanky networking events, attended by senior politicians across the political spectrum.
Lobby journalism
Lobby journalists are a select group who have a “lobby pass”, i.e special access to parts of Parliament which enables them to report on parliamentary business. It also, consequently, allows more direct contact with politicians. It’s no surprise that personal relationships develop.
The consequence of the close relationship between politicians and the media may make it easier for certain factions to set the news agenda, as this below tweet suggests:
The impact of this relationship on democracy
Prioritising media support over public support
The print media are allowed to support specific political candidates. This support will likely align with the owners' interests.
These billionaire backed newspapers can be influential. This example from the Press Gazette suggests how negative press coverage of Penny Mourdant and positive coverage of Liz Truss may have impacted the Tory leadership race in summer 2022.
Therefore politicians consider what the owners of billionaire-owned newspapers think than what the wider public think. This may explain why popular policies, such as public ownership of services such as rail, water and mail, are not on the political agenda.
Also look at these examples of how Jeremy Corbyn was covered in the press while leader of the Labour Party. It is hard to claim that the following examples of Corbyn's media treatment represent objective journalism.
This graph below shows the correlation between immigration being a political priority with the public, and its coverage in the media.
Prioritising media relationships over running the country
In November 2020, at the height of the Covid pandemic hundreds of people were dying per day. Yet Johnson’s priority was meeting journalists for "general discussion".
The media's fear of politicians
The media and politics relationships can work both ways. Media outlets can be scared of running stories because they are afraid of the consequences of politicians involved.
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In 2021, Sunday Times published a story about Boris Johnson (while he was Foreign Secretary) wanting to give his wife (while she was his former mistress) a 100k-per-year government job; it was quickly pulled from later print editions and their website. There is no satisfactory explanation as to why.
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A US example from 2023 centred around Fox News and Donald Trump. A court case between Fox and Dominion, a company involved in the 2020 US Presidential election process. The court files found that Fox knowingly lied about the 2020 election being rigged. Part of the reason they did so is because they were afraid of Donald Trump.
What accountability could look like
The media are essential at uncovering the wrongdoing of the elites and highlighting problems, and when they do it well it is very effective.
It is not only Johnson who does not like being scrutinised for bad behviour. The below is an exchange involving former Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove. He was asked to defend his party's dishonesty during the election campaign. His rebuttal was to accuse Ciaran Jenkins, the interviewer, of bias.​
This example, of American journalist Jon Stewart.
