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-   -   Internet and the Tory Party. (https://pirate.planetarion.com/showthread.php?t=192488)

Cooling 30 Sep 2006 11:35

Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Today as I was reading the Guardian I noticed an article on the front page about this new David Cameron website, where his minders have decided it would be a good idea to have him talk into a webcam from his home.

Now my knowledge of British politics is not very great; it simply struck me as a very odd, perhaps even progressive thing for a right wing conservative party to do.

There is no reason why not of course, and perhaps it will connect with a constituency of computer savvy internet goers.

The interesting question for me is whether this will turn out to be a major new avenue of political communication; something slightly more direct and accessible to the public. Does that then have a positive or negative spinoff for the democratic process? Or is it just a new form of vacuous political advertising? All spin and little substance.


Here is the link to the Guardian article.

the_dastardley_chihuahua 30 Sep 2006 13:44

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
i like the way he has apparently chosen the most inconvenient time to record them. hes just an ordinary bloke like the rest of us.

Ultimate Newbie 30 Sep 2006 15:42

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
I like it how he ignores the heartfelt pleas/bleating of his children in order to push his political point on the webcam - but having said that, i've not been a parent so i dont know really how often normal parents do that and continue a conversation with another 'adult' regardless.

Anyway, i dont really see a problem with it. Who was holding the camera though?

Dace 30 Sep 2006 15:52

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cooling
All spin and little substance.



Sums up David Cameron quite well.


[/Economist]

Saphi 30 Sep 2006 16:06

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
hmmm ... is this a politicial spin ...Yes
is this another attempt for the tories to look like New Labour (from 1997)
Yes

this is the same sort of thing the Labour party used in '97 .. Admittidly technology has moved one, but is the same message coming across
Vote for us we'ved changed --- when really what has happened is nothing that big has changed since maggie thatcher came in.

All Systems Go 30 Sep 2006 16:35

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Hi I'm David Cameron. You might remember me from such party political broadcasts as 'Why do the rich pay more tax?' and 'Why is my neighbourhood full of black criminals?'...

lokken 30 Sep 2006 17:05

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
bring back the feudal system that's what i say

Yahwe 30 Sep 2006 19:15

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue
In terms of Cameron I think peopel are all wrong headed about what a Conservative government means. Of course there is substance, there are any number of shit policis they would like to introduce in terms of criminalising the poor, imposing short-termist cloying policies and transferring money from the poor and middle classes to the wealthy classes.

These are the policies of the Labour party as well. The competition is not about policies, it is how to dress up the same shit policies to make them less vile to the the public. The largest political group is the group of people who find these policies unattractive. There is no attempt to reach out to those people because politicans aren't interested.

Its the puppet show of Parliamentary democracy which distracts people with loud noises and drama and is at best a silhouette of the reality of power relations within this country.

this post is the definition of 'all spin and no substance'

Yahwe 1 Oct 2006 15:52

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
IF you had said 'Britain's failure to operate a moral foreign policy means we do not live in a utopia' that would have been a curious argument but at least it would have had substance.

INSTEAD your polemic amounts to 'Britain is a mess of a state that is falling apart because it doesn't do X'. Such emotive language used to clearly exagerate a situation is SPIN.

:(

Cooling 2 Oct 2006 01:44

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue
So what you're saying is that a politician notices the internet and we should give two shits one way or the other. As it happens the PM has done any number of webcasts and the like. Its just TV in a different way. I don't understand why you would even care. Why woudl you even say "all spin and no substance", what does that even mean? The substance can be read anywhere in any newspaper or the BBC website.

Its kind of sad, although in no way suprising that anyone would even consider this sort of gimmickry when looking at the main political parties as being anything other than the usual tomfoolery like appearing on Reality TV shows, going on Richard and Judy or MTV, or whatever.

It is political advertising. Yes, it is simply another branding excercise in order to entrench a personality based "Presidential" political system. Is it indicative of a wider trend? I think so. Is this trend anything new? Probably not.

To a certain extent it is simply another form of "gimmickry". Indeed this is a form of spin is it not? The 'substance', i.e. the policies are absent from this form of political broadcast, this is certainly not the ideal medium for that sort of thing. Even if it were, the party would probably not want to get into an involved discussion about what it intends to do with all those "pesky negro's cluttering up our welfare system". They would rather obfuscate the issue and dress it up in terms like "Social Responsibility" and "Caring for the environment".

All that might lead to the conclusion that this is yet another inherently shit form of political broadcasting, where the 'message' is couched entirely in slogans and catch phrases. Afterall, it is in the politicians interest to feed us this tripe. The Public likes to hear easily digestible 30 second sound bites don't they?


If there is a problem here, does it lie with the messenger, the medium, or the recievers (ie the public)? I had hoped that this sort of mediated communication between the politicians and the public via the internet could have positive spinoffs. Some new utopian dream of deliberative democracy and public participation, a bastardised form of the "Public Sphere" if you will. That was a few years ago; these days it seems like a load of idealistic nonsense.

It is just another form of advertising gimmickry, you are right, and I suppose I don't care all that much. Just another bright shiney flashy thing to capture the publics attention for a day or two.

BesigedB 2 Oct 2006 02:42

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Their design people are good I'll give em that.

JonnyBGood 2 Oct 2006 08:44

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Toccata & Fugue
dedicated internet strategist

They so should have hired me :(



Anyways I don't see what you're arguing about, it's quite clear to everyone that Jack Johnson's 3 cent titanium tax goes too far.

I mean let's face it, your average voter is as drunk and stupid as ever. The only one who's changed is me. I've become bitter, and let's face it, crazy over the years. And once I'm swept into office, I'll sell our children's organs to zoos for meat. And I'll go into people's houses at night and wreck up the place!

pig 2 Oct 2006 10:04

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
I'm thinking of starting my own political party.

JonnyBGood 2 Oct 2006 10:13

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by pig
I'm thinking of starting my own political party.

England may not prevail :(

lokken 2 Oct 2006 11:06

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
I was going to write a proper post, but in the end I'm going to settle for this. I thought Cameron trotted out a load of meaningless horseshit yesterday. If that and this website is the future of national political debate god help us.

Dante Hicks 2 Oct 2006 11:16

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood
I mean let's face it, your average voter is as drunk and stupid as ever.

Probably true, but fortunately the number of voters shrinks with every election so by 2100 we should have a country which is almost entirely sober and smart.

JonnyBGood 2 Oct 2006 11:23

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks
Probably true, but fortunately the number of voters shrinks with every election so by 2100 we should have a country which is almost entirely sober and smart.

Yeah but by 2050 society will have collapsed under the weight of administrative incompetence so by 2100 we'll actually be living in a stone age.

pig 2 Oct 2006 12:05

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by JonnyBGood
England may not prevail :(

I reckon whats needed is a party like the BNP but without its racist hangups.

Cooling 2 Oct 2006 12:28

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by pig
I reckon whats needed is a party like the BNP but without its racist hangups.

Theres always the National Front. Afterall, the Jews arn't really a race.

Ste 2 Oct 2006 12:28

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by lokken
I thought Cameron trotted out a load of meaningless horseshit yesterday.

I thought it was exactly the same at the Lib Dem and the Labour conference as well.
Specifically targetting the tories for talking bollocks is a bit unfair.

lokken 2 Oct 2006 12:36

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ste
I thought it was exactly the same at the Lib Dem and the Labour conference as well.
Specifically targetting the tories for talking bollocks is a bit unfair.

I agree, but I didn't get to listen to the other speeches :p

Ste 2 Oct 2006 12:36

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by pig
I reckon whats needed is a party like the BNP but without its racist hangups.

Aren't there ones like the "English Democrat party" which are like that?
or UKIP?

Dante Hicks 2 Oct 2006 13:05

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by pig
I reckon whats needed is a party like the BNP but without its racist hangups.

Or the greens without the environmentalism.

(What would you be for as a non-racist BNP?)

Cannon_Fodder 3 Oct 2006 11:34

Re: Internet and the Tory Party.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dante Hicks
Or the greens without the environmentalism.

I was going to say whats bad about their environmentalism since it isn't extremism.

But then I realised your point :(


Also T&F what do you do now?

Why didn't you stay and try and kill Tony Blair after forcing him to sign a document making you prime minister, or something like that?


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