The Relationship Between Pressure Groups and the News Media

Nowadays, it is comprehensible to hear that crowded citizens flourished on the street or gathered in front of the official government in order to advocacy their appeals towards government or pressing the ‘sluggish’ government. These phenomenons could be identified by social activities lead by pressure group and as the forms of expressing public opinion. However, news media also reveals similar functions with pressure groups by attracting public attention and raising public awareness on certain issues, even influencing government’s decision on a great extent. This essay will mainly focus on analysising how pressure groups successfully utilize and affect news media in terms of enhancing the public attention to their campaigns which accompany with a few negative examples of pressure groups about misues news media. Besides, this essay will critically argue about the relationship between pressure groups and news media; some techniques exerted by pressure groups in media area and how news media reacted to pressure groups.

There are several types of pressure groups existing in current society which they possess different values and aims. In details, causes groups may eager to set up certain debates in political agenda and expected to receive effectual political action ; sectional groups might need to attract public attention to their problems but sometimes they prevent public attention in order to conducted via au fait consultative channels ; interest groups which easily to understand in its literal meanings used to upgrade their interest in political agenda by utilizing media . Therefore, certain pressure groups require higher level of media assistance compared with others. Furthermore, despite of pressure groups relate to political agenda, environmental groups have established long-history relationship with news media that could be identified by large amount of environmental articles in media coverage . In details, most well-known environmental groups employed rich experience staff; those workers involved in making environmental news before or providing environmental information to journalists that will guarantee their campaign issues are similar or familiar with favourable news coverage
. However, environmental groups are taken significant advantages in news coverage compared with other pressure groups due to the environmental news are more mediagenic and equivalent to news criteria . Despite of the pressure groups require news media at a variety level, different form of news media might present diverse effects depends on its functions and targeted audiences.

In general, different forms of news media, like television, news website online, with distinguished perform style might attract their own targeted audiences. The ‘new’ news media which refers to internet may reveal advanced excellence to pressure groups compared with traditional news media, like newspaper or radio. For instance, first of all, digital television provides diverse programmes which satisfied specific group of audiences to watch their interested programmes; therefore, pressure group are able to access and fit in their ‘campaign’ issues to certain audiences group without difficulty . Secondly, it is indicated by Grant that internet offers an unprecedented and momentous platform for pressure groups. Then, internet presents the functions of timely updating information about lasted campaign issues on pressure groups’ official website or public could access from other primary newspapers’ websites. Besides, pressure groups or even individuals have the capacity and accessibility to publish their goals or ideals on the World Wide Web without seriously considered of higher costs or matters of time as well as worldwide readers received or reading from other prominent news corporation of their news website online, such as CNN . In a personal stance, pressure groups might not heavily rely on internet to gain public attention due to the majority of well-educated or authorised individuals substantially get information from traditional news media. Nevertheless, other strategies relate to news media employed by pressure groups to reinforce their battles will be demonstrated in later paragraphs accompany by appropriate examples.

The techniques employed by pressure groups to expand their public attention might manifest be summarized into two aspects: political campaigns and media campaigns; both campaigns conducted by pressure groups depends on news media coverage on a great extent. Therefore, the paragraph will focus on representing the news coverage related to pressure groups in newspaper and its effects. First of all, taking a successful example to analysis how Greenpeace managed their issues to be appeared in the newspaper coverage. In details, Greenpeace utilized implicit and ingenious methods to attract newspaper coverage and even became a symbol of environmental issue in its literal name. According to Hansen,
‘Greenpeace is quoted directly in just under half of all articles, and quoted indirectly in another 20 percent of articles. In just over a third of the coverage, Greenpeace is not quoted, but simply mentioned or referred to’.
Regardless of the number of news coverage about Greenpeace, the organizational itself has created long-term favourable images towards public which could be identified by turn away the media attention on Greenpeace rather than focusing on the issues they fight for. Even though, a few news articles may unambiguous advocate Greenpeace or Greenpeace personality that also emphasised the dedication and inimitability of the people engaged; for instance, a news quote from The Guardian which reported on 15 August 1989 has portrayed Greenpeace in such ways, ‘Tuesday People: Greenpeace skipper looking forward to blue seas after weathering grey skies- Peter Wilcox’). In my opinion of view, Greenpeace was triumphantly exert news media to automatically publicized their campaign issues which accompanied by their distinctive and clever strategies.

Massive news coverage could be counted as the most outstanding strategy to reach wide-spread audiences , but a few specific news coverages might contribute to unexpected and enormous results. There was a classic example of Chief Fire Officers' Association to attract public attention on the issue of hazards of furniture containing combustible foams in 1988 . Initially, government refused to prohibit these foams from public when associations has already declared the ascending number of death might be caused by potential harmful foams .Therefore, association seeks assistance from a news conference to gain public attention and support on the purpose of exerting enormous public pressure on government; at last, government announced to ban the flammable foams due to large amount of news coverage. From this specific example, it is more visible to identify the advantages of pressure groups to using news media to fight for their campaigns. Furthermroe, despite of the pressure groups make great effort to communicate with current dominant news corporations, they also established specialist press that served for their own priorities and motivations. In the third paragraph of the essay which mentioned the various forms of news media may present diverse effects of publicity of pressure groups, here will add on further information about programmes coverage related to pressure groups which has been identified that certain TV programmes, such as ITV’s ‘World in Action’, BBC TV’s ‘Panorama’, employed the issues raised by pressure groups. However, pressure groups not only made large effort to taken up large amount of news coverage in order to raising public awareness but also invested other strategies which will be analysis below.

According to Grant that it is a fundamental technique for pressure groups to sustain good relationship with news media. In details, there was some reliable figures indicated that four out of five pressure groups tended to contact with news media nearly once a week, fifty percent in total pressure groups even get attach with the media in daily basis. Therefore, it is explicit to demonstrate that news media has became the central tool for pressure groups to publicize themselves; maintain the good relationship with news media might be essential and require further development. Therefore, pressure groups employ more professional staffs to get involved with news agency that those staffs possessed interpersonal relationship net with people who working in the news agencies or understood how the news media work. It is not able to deny that those professional staffs may improve the possibility of pressure groups to be presented in the news media arena and enhance the interaction between news media and pressure groups. Even so, such circumstance might arouse reflection from news media about the authenticity and trustfulness of pressure groups activities and their motivations.

There were a few evidences revealed the news bias towards specific pressure groups in news coverage. For instance, news media press may not select certain pressure groups to be reported or news media press could also write pressure groups campaign issues in a pessimistic or even unfriendly style . Besides, there was some evidences indicated that news media has reinforced inspection on pressure groups about their motivations and hidden deceit. On the one hand, those increased suspicions based upon the misused sources by a few television journalist who has potential to be control by pressure groups. In my personal point of view, it is dangerous for primary news media be manipulated by pressure groups, especially wealthy pressure group leader who get priority to invest money on certain news agency on the purpose of publicity, in terms of providing untruthful news coverage or even wrong information. Taken an example of Greenpeace, it has confessed that they dispersed erroneous information about ‘the quantity of oil on board the Brent Spar oil rig’ . In the result of that,
‘The press in Britain adopted a line that Greenpeace has been trying to win at any cost, has been inventing scare stories that had been found out’.
On the other hand, it is necessary for current Britain news media to critically and seriously reflect their development due to the overconfidence of the pressure groups authenticity. There was a quote from Financial Time said that:
‘How important it is for the media to test the veracity of what any organization declares or states’ .
Due to the public as well as the news media possessed rigid expression towards pressure groups which considered all of the pressure groups are positive and hold a sense of righteousness, therefore, public might under a serious situation where a few pressure groups might wear fake ‘justice’ mask to exert cankered social movements.

In conclusion, the relationship between the pressure groups and news media has been explicit presented in many aspects of media arena; in terms of the massive news coverage and successfully attract public attention. In the future, due to the declining of the individuals participated in political agenda, pressure groups will become more important as a way for people to pursue democracy and a place for hearing public voice. It would be possible to predict that news media will improve their official and professional system in order to further interact with pressure groups.