Politics

Evaluate the view that the Uk press is important

Press is a vital factor in determining the political engagement and turnout as well as influencing the public votes, this is more so for the older electorate since different types of media cater to different people.
E.G: During Blair's campaign he convinced Rupert Murdoch to switch The Sun's allegiance from conservative to labour; this proved to be play a massive role in converting conservative loyalist to labour voters during the election. Hence press's influence over public cannot be ignored as it has allowed Blair to be elected by a mammoth majority of 180/179 seats.
However, this can be counterargued by the fact that over the years press has lost its influence due to the low readership and decrease in loyal readers as a consequence of partisan dealignment. This was seen in 2017 GE where newspapers were highly critical and dismissive over Jeremy Corby due to his anti-sematic remarks, yet he nearly won the election, so clearly suggesting that the press does not hold any formal power and influence over the electorate and are therefore limited.
-Press's influence can be claimed to be limited and weak in general as it is seen as an "echo-chamber", meaning readers will only read on political matters they agree with and will not go out of their way to read press that contradicts their opinion. Hence, in reality press is not an important factor at determining and influencing votes. This is seen through the loyal readership of news papers. The daily mail infamously right winged, and most of its readers support the Tories whereas the guardian being the most left-winged. so most of its
-Other vessels emerged over the shadows and oppressed influence that press was cultivating. Media.
- Media has become a massive vessel especially for younger generation and now the older electorate to express their political opinions as well as obtaining information.
This caused political parties to increase and move their political/election campaigns online, on the media. 2017 GE, used twitter trending many #s to their favour, proved successful since 60% of those aged 18-24 voted Labour.
Additionally now conservative party has replicated this method causing it to be popularised between parties. in 2019 GE, Con party managed to receive 10% more engagement from youngers compared to Labour. technique therefore extremely more influential compared to press.

so can be claimed that despite press having major characteristics that allow the influence of public and can potentially manipulate outcomes of general election. in reality they are rendered weak against the rise of the media and are now seen as nothing by echo-chambers with low readership values caused as a repercussion since we are at a period of party dealignment.

I don't know if this is what you meant but I tried.. take my points with a pinch of salt since I'm not sure if they're entirely good/correct