Image Issues: Miliband's big speech

We will be exploring the issue of image in politics, how reportage and perception of personality can predominate, leaving actual policy as a secondary matter.

Here's how (traditionally pro-Labour, left-wing) The Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell reflected Miliband's September 2014 Labour Party Conference speech - seen as a key step on the way to the 2015 general election:

C4 News produced multiple packages to reflect his speech. This one is relatively 'unvarnished', and presents Miliband's 6 policy pledges in a fairly straightforward fashion:


This second C4 News package precedes any word from Miliband with correspondent commentary which frames Miliband and his speech in a largely negative light, which continues with the manner in which his actual speech is presented. It is worth reflecting on the point that while newspapers are not prohibited from being biased (although their own self-regulation Editor's Code includes a clause on 'Accuracy'), it is strictly illegal for broadcast news media to be biased. OfCom can remove the license to broadcast from offenders - and indeed has done just that to some cable/satellite news stations:


According to these young writers, Milliband appeals to young voters.