Media Coverage of Gordon Brown’s ‘Bigotgate’ in the 2010 British General Election

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to gain a better understanding of the effect of media on public opinion, with particular attention to Gordon Brown’s ‘bigotgate’ taking place in April 2010 during his campaign for the British general election. The paper seeks to argue that the event had a major impact on Brown’s political career as well as Labour’s image on the British political landscape. The corpus of the study includes a selection of 100 articles from The Guradian which are qualitatively analysed, using media agenda-setting and framing, and juxtaposed to 30 Ipsos Mori opinion polls dealing with the event and related issues. Results show that the event had major repercussions on the British political scene. It damaged Brown’s political career, contributing to Labour’s inability to secure their fourth term in Ten Downing Street and increased Britons’ concern about mass migration, particularly from Eastern Europe.