Whoever triumphs in UK election, it won't be the press 'wot won it'

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Yahoo News:

LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid famously crowed "It was the Sun wot won it" in 1992, claiming its support had swayed 10 million readers to back John Major's Conservatives to an unexpected election victory.

 

In the three elections that followed, the rightwing paper backed the other side, helping to deliver victories for Tony Blair's newly pro-business Labour Party.

 

But today, with circulation figures crumbling and no party likely to secure a majority in the May 7 vote, the screaming headlines of Britain's notoriously partisan newspapers are failing to have the impact of old.

 

In a move that would have been unheard of a few years ago, opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband gave an interview to Russell Brand, a comedian with 9.6 million Twitter followers and his own YouTube channel.

 

Brand, who previously told his audience not to vote, rewarded Miliband on Monday with a surprise endorsement.

 

Miliband even tweaked Murdoch during the interview, saying the Australian-born magnate no longer had the power he once had: "The British people have a lot more sense than some of these papers give them credit for."

 

Comparing Brand to Murdoch, Charlie Beckett, media professor at the London School of Economics, said Miliband's move made sense: "Russell may get better cut through than Rupert."

 

ERA HAS GONE

 

David Yelland, a former editor of the Sun and deputy editor of Murdoch's New York Post, acknowledged that press barons hold less sway than they once did.

 

"It's quite clearly the closest election for a long time, so you would think that the print media would have a huge influence over which way it's going to go. But I don't think they do in the traditional sense," he said.

 

"The era, both here and in the U.S., of newspapers endorsing candidates and the feeling that that carries weight, that has gone."

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Old dead media no longer matters.