A new study shows how small formats manipulated the mood in the country in the run-up to the EU referendum.
It is well known that there are inveterate Eurosceptics in the editorial offices of the British tabloids, who like to swing a mallet when writing the front pages. But the extent of the reporting, bordering on disinformation, that the British small formats expected of their readers in the run-up to the Brexit referendum has fallen below the usual level. Kathryn Simpson and Nick Startin draw this conclusion in a study published in the “Journal of Common Market Studies” (JCMS).
The scientists analyzed the front pages of the country’s three largest-circulation tabloids – the Sun, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express – in the 25 days leading up to the vote on June 23, 2016. The period chosen is not random, but coincides with the so-called Purdah, during which official representatives are not allowed to comment on political content prior to a vote in order to remain impartial and not to influence voters. Conversely, however, this means that ministers and civil servants were unable to correct untruths spread by the media during this period, because these corrections would only have benefited one camp – the supporters of Great Britain remaining in the EU.