Communication Breakdown
Politicians, political reporting and public trust

A high-level series of events organised by the British Council in conjunction with Global Partners, examining the relationship between the media, politicians and the people in the UK and South East Europe

February 2007 - July 2008

Politicians and journalists: mutually assured destruction?

People seem to be losing faith in politics. Fewer people are voting, fewer people are joining political parties and levels of trust in political institutions are declining. Citizens doubt their politicians’ motives and are cynical about whether they genuinely represent voters’ concerns.

But do people trust journalists any more than they trust politicians?  The public appear increasingly sceptical about their sources of news. And worries are growing about the reliability, independence and substance of many parts of the media.

This three-way breakdown of trust – between public, politics and media – should concern all of us.  

But it is in the immediate interests of both politicians and journalists to do something about improving the public perception. And yet in almost every democracy politics and the media are engaged in a struggle in which politicians blame the media for poor reporting and journalists blame politicians for not being honest.  

The result of this mutual hostility is simply to further lower public trust.

To examine these issues in more depth the British Council, in conjunction with Global Partners, is organising a series of events in Belgrade, Sarajevo and London. The project participating countries are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Serbia, Monte Negro and the United Kingdom.

The first event took place in Belgrade in February 2007 and examined the extent to which politicians and journalists contributed to the current situation, the balance between freedom of speech and hate speech, and the influence of media ownership on the pattern of news reporting. Fid out more about the Belgrade’s debate.

The second Politics and Media took place in Sarajevo, 19-21 June 2007. The event built on the themes examined in Belgrade by looking at the positive role that the media plays in holding politicians to account, but also question the extent to which media reporting tends to exaggerate levels of political corruption and distort the public perception of politics.  It combined speakers from the fields of media and politics to assess the proper role of investigative journalism and the extent to which political complexity is sometimes lost in news reporting. The Sarajevo debate’s programme provides details on the topics that were discussed and the Key Speakers Biographies from the region and the UK that provoked the open debate.

The third event took place in London, 22-23 January 2008. The key questions discussed at the event were:  How far is journalistic power and political influence used responsibly by the holders?  Is it time to create additional systems of regulation to limit the influence of the media and ensure greater accountability from politicians? London Programme and List of Speakers and Participants from SEE and UK provide full details related to the event.

The final Politics and Media event will take place in Sarajevo, 30 June - 2 July 2008. The last in series of events will look at the impact new technologies have on communication of both politicians and media representatives. Download Sarajevo Programme and Speakers’ Biographies.

For more information about the project and the forthcoming activities please contact: Amela Karajbić