Feeling cynical

17Sep08

A weird article in last Sunday’s Observer. It rightly points out that many people view politics and the media with cynicism, but then repeatedly portrays that cynicism – as opposed to whatever it is about politics and the media that engenders it – as the problem.

Then we get this:

“[Dr Alain] Samson said the indications were that… [the reason why people are more cynical about politics than about business is]  because politicians have a public face, making them more prone to criticism than faceless businessmen. The consequences of such cynicism are vast, the team believes. It can result in people disengaging from politics, turning away from major media, or boycotting products. It could also prompt people to join pressure groups or, in more extreme cases, to resort to direct action or violence. ‘This has wide implications in the cohesiveness of society,’ said Liasides.

The team is planning a nationwide sample to create the Cyndex, which it intends to develop commercially. ‘We believe it will be valuable for all communicators to help them be more credible with the public,’ said Liasides.”

So instead of trying to seriously change politics and the media to improve people’s perception of them (perhaps if politics were less cynical people wouldn’t view it with such cynicism?), these researchers are instead going to offer their marketing services to “communicators” to help win us over. Otherwise, people might start “turning away from major media”, “boycotting products”, “join[ing] pressure groups” and even “resort[ing] to direct action”. Oh noes!

For a useful analysis of the reasons behind public scepticism about formal politics and the media (hint: it could have something to do with articles like this one), Power to the People (.pdf) is well worth a read.

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Tags: cynicism, Democracy, Power Inquiry, PR