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Tabloids attack Miliband's campaign

Wednesday, 06 May 2015 3:07 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 06 May 2015 3:07 PM ]

Labour leader Ed Miliband ©AFP

The British tabloids have been ruthless in their attacks against Labour leader Ed Miliband as the Sun leads the way in personalizing the campaign.

The Labour leader has brushed off personal attacks over the years, including the way he eats, his personal appearance and the way he sounds. But the sustained level of attacks against Miliband has even thwarted the abuse former Labour leader Neil Kinnock experienced throughout the 1980s culminating in the 1992 general election campaign. Back then, the Sun attacked Kinnock before the 1992 general election with the headline “If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights.”

But many analysts have noticed an even more virulent campaign against Miliband. Figures show that 95% of the leader columns in Rupert Murdoch owned tabloids were anti-Labour. This figure was 79% during the hatred towards Kinnock in 1992. Following the 1992 election, the Sun boasted that they won the campaign for the Tories following their campaign against Kinnock.

The Sun has thrown their support behind David Cameron and the Tories as the Media Standards Trust has found that 46% of 39 leader columns analysed were pro-Tory. Most publications are deemed pro-Tory and anti-Labour in the UK with the exception of the Mirror and the Guardian.

However the Media Standards Trust found that the Sun have been the most critical of Labour. They have urged their readership in England to vote Tory whilst slamming the Scottish National Party in Scotland. But the Scottish Sun came out in enthusiastic support of the SNP, portraying leader Nicola Sturgeon as the savior of Scotland.

An increasing number of people believe that tabloids such as the Sun aren’t as powerful as they were in 1992. Many argue that people see through the negativity of their stories following the phone hacking scandal, social media and a distaste of old politics and media hackery.

LM/PHX

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