Virtually every government communication in a modern democracy is formulated and evaluated in the context of spin. The Origins of Modern Spin traces its origins to the period 1945-51 when the post-war Labour government, and its media architect, Herbert Morrison, moved from an idealistic commitment to open communication towards the pragmatic relationship with the media that exists today. The attempt to control the interpretation of a communication as well as the communication itself has become an integral part of modern governance.
Based on original, archival research, this book explodes the notion that information management is a recent phenomenon. By 1951, the framework within which subsequent British governments would seek to manage the media - up to and including New Labour after 1997 - had been set. This gripping story is told using government correspondence, contemporary newspapers, films, radio broadcasts, newsreels and previously unpublished private diaries, and is indispensable to an understanding of the way contemporary governments communicate - and thereby govern.
'Moore successfully interweaves context and human action, illuminating both the circumstances in which a continuous government management of information could emerge, and the human choices and lobbyings which caused it to do so... Moore has with great clarity and thoroughness charted one important moment in the accommodation of British political parties to the practice of high minded deviousness that Max Webber called the pact with the devil. - Rodney Barker, Archives: The journal of the British Records Association
Introduction: What is Modern Spin?
PART I: ORGANISING GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION
Idealistic Intentions: Striving to Speak to the People
Expedient Outcomes: Communication Proves Harder than Expected
Slipping Towards Spin: The Film-Making Experiment
'Information Management' Becomes a New Tool of Governance
PART II: GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE: THE PRESS
Neither Free nor Fair?: Government Opinion of the Press
Can Newspapers be Made 'More Responsible'?
'Press Freedom' Triumphs; Government Turns to Spin
PART III: GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE: BROADCASTING
A Model Communicator? The BBC Objects to Being a Mouthpiece of the State
'Necessity' Justifies New Techniques of Manipulation
Conclusion: Communication Moves Centre Stage
MARTIN MOORE is Director of the Media Standards Trust. He was formerly Managing Director of Human Capital where he provided strategic and editorial advice to the BBC, Channel 4, NTL, IPC Media, Trinity Mirror and others. He holds a doctorate from LSE where he was teaching and researching until 2006.
Description
Virtually every government communication in a modern democracy is formulated and evaluated in the context of spin. The Origins of Modern Spin traces its origins to the period 1945-51 when the post-war Labour government, and its media architect, Herbert Morrison, moved from an idealistic commitment to open communication towards the pragmatic relationship with the media that exists today. The attempt to control the interpretation of a communication as well as the communication itself has become an integral part of modern governance.
Based on original, archival research, this book explodes the notion that information management is a recent phenomenon. By 1951, the framework within which subsequent British governments would seek to manage the media - up to and including New Labour after 1997 - had been set. This gripping story is told using government correspondence, contemporary newspapers, films, radio broadcasts, newsreels and previously unpublished private diaries, and is indispensable to an understanding of the way contemporary governments communicate - and thereby govern.
Reviews
'Moore successfully interweaves context and human action, illuminating both the circumstances in which a continuous government management of information could emerge, and the human choices and lobbyings which caused it to do so... Moore has with great clarity and thoroughness charted one important moment in the accommodation of British political parties to the practice of high minded deviousness that Max Webber called the pact with the devil. - Rodney Barker, Archives: The journal of the British Records Association
Contents
Introduction: What is Modern Spin?
PART I: ORGANISING GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION
Idealistic Intentions: Striving to Speak to the People
Expedient Outcomes: Communication Proves Harder than Expected
Slipping Towards Spin: The Film-Making Experiment
'Information Management' Becomes a New Tool of Governance
PART II: GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE: THE PRESS
Neither Free nor Fair?: Government Opinion of the Press
Can Newspapers be Made 'More Responsible'?
'Press Freedom' Triumphs; Government Turns to Spin
PART III: GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION IN PRACTICE: BROADCASTING
A Model Communicator? The BBC Objects to Being a Mouthpiece of the State
'Necessity' Justifies New Techniques of Manipulation
Conclusion: Communication Moves Centre Stage
Authors
MARTIN MOORE is Director of the Media Standards Trust. He was formerly Managing Director of Human Capital where he provided strategic and editorial advice to the BBC, Channel 4, NTL, IPC Media, Trinity Mirror and others. He holds a doctorate from LSE where he was teaching and researching until 2006.
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