Suchergebnisse

The literature on international trends in political communication suggests that governments & political parties around the world have been modernizing & professionalizing their media relations operations. The key characteristics of a successful "modern" communications strategy are centralization, coordination, efficiency, & responsiveness. This article examines the extent to which those trends have permeated the parties & the new devolved administration in Northern Ireland. Much of the relevant literature has suggested that the government has generally set the media agenda in Northern Ireland. However, this article presents findings that indicate that it is the more radical of the main nationalist & unionist parties in Northern Ireland that have been most successful in modernizing their approach to political communication since devolution. The article draws parallels between the evolution of media relations in the parties in question -- Sinn Fein & the Democratic Unionist Party -- & the modernizing of political communication within New Labour in GB. The article also compares the media machine of the Northern Ireland Executive to that of another devolved administration in the United Kingdom, the Scottish Executive. It finds that the Scottish Executive has gone further in professionalizing its approach to media relations. 4 Figures, 32 References. D. Weibel

Investigates modernization and professionalization of media relations operations of Sinn Féin, the Democratic Unionist Party, and Northern Ireland Executive, with comparisons to the British Labour Party and the Scottish Executive; based on a survey of 19 journalists, 2000-2001, and interviews with party press and government information officers.