CELEBRITY POLITICIANS ON WAY OUT?
30.04.2010This was the consensus of a lively debate between journalists and experts on political image-making that closed this year’s two-day Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Summing up the arguments, Tim Arlott of Reuters Television, chairman of the session, said the discussion had come up with an optimistic conclusion: “Image is important but politicians still need to demonstrate that they have substance, real skills and policies.”
Several speakers argued that the most successful politicians had always had both style and substance, even before the age of television. Television had made image seem more important, but politicians who relied on it could find that the public might soon tire of them.
Sandy Dumont, Founder and President of the World Association of Image Consultants, USA, explained how style and image could help to make a successful politician. The impression she was looking for, the ‘sweet spot’, was a combination of charisma and charm with a dash of old money. The impact must be “refined, cultured, classy, attractive… and covertly sexy.”
Anyone in politics could benefit from added style, she said, but added: “I would never accept a political client who lacked substance.”
The discussion turned to specific cases of ‘media star’ leaders.
David Lawday, Paris-based correspondent of Britain’s New Statesman magazine, said President Nicolas Sarkozy had offered the French voters a total change of style from the past. “France wanted change and he provided it,” he said.
President Sarkozy had deliberately presented himself as a man of the people and encouraged media scrutiny of his private life, unlike all previous French leaders. He had won the presidential election with these tactics, but now his popularity had slumped in the opinion polls. The French public seemed to regret that he had somehow lost the dignity and authority of office.
“In a way this may be a signal that the age of celebrity politicians is coming to an end,” Lawday said.
In Italy, he added, Silvio Berlusconi was a media star who owned the media. He had created an image which appealed to a predominantly masculine audience but had deeply offended many women and sections of the Italian electorate who were more concerned with moral and spiritual values. This factor may even have led to him being physically attacked, Lawday noted.
Several panellists referred to the current British election campaign as an example of a relative newcomer, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrat party, gaining unexpected popularity by demonstrating both style and substance in a televised debate, putting two more experienced but traditional politicians at least temporarily in the shade.
Russian members of the panel commented on the changing image of their leaders, from Soviet times to the present day. An old style politician like Leonid Brezhnev had also encouraged a certain image of himself as a hunter, which had worked in his day but would not be seen as appropriate in an age of animal rights movements. More recent attempts to convey a youthful, vigorous image had sometimes backfired and made a negative impact on public opinion.
Lyudmila Adilova of the Russian State University of Liberal Arts said President Boris Yeltsin’s dancing exploits had been seen by many as improper conduct for a leader. “Such deviant behaviour reduces politics to entertainment and can undermine the whole political structure,” she said.
Politicians must deliver meaningful messages, not just create carnival images, she added. The creation of an image was a device for a politician to look more interesting and get closer to the electorate.
On the other hand, Ashot Dzhazoyan, Secretary General of the International Confederation of Journalist Unions, Russia, argued that Vladimir Putin had projected a popular image of sporting achievement by having himself photographed as a bare-chested horseman, updating the Brezhnev bear-hunting style. “This was a new message from a new power,” he said.
The task of television journalists now was to put politicians back into contact with ordinary people. Television needed to show ordinary people talking to politicians about real issues. The politicians in turn had to learn to be more reflective and responsive in dealing with the people and their concerns.
Alexander Arkhangelskiy of Culture TV Channel, Russia, warned that the whole medium of television was in decline, losing younger people who were turned off by what they saw as an outdated legacy of images of the past. The TV set was seen as an instrument of the older generation.
“The ones who are no longer watching television tend to be the younger, the most successful, the most energetic and the least interested in politics,” he said.
He admitted that television could not yet be eliminated from politics, but argued that the age of artificially created images was over.
Guenter Knabe of Deutsche Welle, Germany, speaking from the floor, warned politicians against putting too much faith in “pop star wrapping”. He added: “The people are more intelligent than the spin doctors believe.”
The panel agreed.
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