Lights, Camera, Inaction? The Media Reporting of Parliament

Abstract

What has changed is the way Parliament is reported or rather not reported. Tell me how many maiden speeches are listened to; how many excellent second reading speeches or committee speeches are covered? Except when they generate major controversy, they aren't. THE Puttnam Commission report, Members Only? Parliament in the Public Eye, published by the Hansard Society in May 2005, examined how parliamentary democracy is communicated to the public.2 Its starting point was the belief that in a democracy, people have a right to understand what Parliament does and why it does it. Evidence suggests that we are a long way from Puttnam's ideal: 61% of the public say that they know ‘not very much’ or ‘nothing at all’ about the role of the Westminster Parliament.3 Westminster, the world of representative politics and Parliament, remain a closed book to many. One result, it seems, is a lack of engagement in the formal politics of the country, most notably low turnout at elections.