Description
Book SynopsisThis book provides a much-needed analysis of the changing representation of gay politicians in UK newspapers. Focusing on the 1950s onwards, a time when the press became more personal and gay politicians/politicians involved in gay scandals came to the forefront of media attention, the text uses case-studies and socio-political analysis to develop a frame of representation which shows how a move from intolerance to tolerance to partial recognition of homosexuality has impacted upon the acceptability of homosexuality in 'heterosexual public space', with this then affecting the representation of gay politicians in the press. What was private has now become public, pointing to the fact that gay politicians have mediated personas; their private lives, and sexualities, are lived in/presented through the media. This book reveals insights about representation and the construction of identity through its focus on sexuality, politicians and the media, with the changing line between the private and public an essential concept. Sensationalism and scandal are key issues in the text, with the press coverage of politicians caught up in gay scandals, as well as gay politicians, explored. The representation of gay politicians in the UK press has so far been underrepresented in media and political studies. Lack of discussion is strange, considering that gay politicians have been at the forefront of the media's attention over the last fifty years. This book provides a much needed contribution to political, media and social history.
Trade ReviewDonna Smith has written an important and engaging original contribution to scholarship on the theory and practice of sexual politics. The concept she develops of a 'frame of representation' both advances her argument and provides other scholars in Politics, Social History, and Media Studies with an important conceptual tool to take forward. Her analysis of the shifting boundary between public and private in press coverage of gay politicians in the UK House of Commons in historical perspective, and the shift in normative judgments which has accompanied it, redresses the gap in academic study of this area. - Dr Raia Prokhovnik, Reader in Politics, Open University
Press attitudes to sexuality and gay politicians have guided much recent political communications strategy; where others have flitted past, at last we have a sustained analysis. Donna Smiths book is rich with insight and possibility, and deserves a wide readership. - Dr Michael Higgins, Senior Lecturer in Journalism, University of Strathclyde
** July 2012 - Open University lecturer Donna Smith's new book, Sex, Lies and Politics, prompts BBC News to ask: how much has really changed since gay politicians were routinely "outed" by the tabloids?
Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionPART ONE: BUILDING A FRAME OF REPRESENTATION1. The Press, the Personal and News Values2. Issues of Public and Private3. Unifying Key ThemesPART TWO: EXPLORING TRADITIONAL REPRESENTATION4. Histories of Homosexuality: Definition and Discrimination5. Private Lives, Public Consequences: Representation Pre-19806. Immoral Sexuality, Moralistic Press Coverage: Representation 19801990PART THREE: EXPLORING CONTEMPORARY REPRESENTATION7. Histories of Homosexuality: the (Slow) Advancement of Gay Equality8. Scurrilous Politicians, Scandalous Stories: Representation 199019979. Public Life, Public Pressures: Representation Post-1997ConclusionBibliographyIndex
