ABSTRACT
The direction of the trends in British political journalism are not substantially in dispute. Political journalism has, as many point out, become more focused on the style of politics, and on the performance aspects of political communication. Politics has become, at least in part, spectacle and entertainment, and coverage of it is increasingly shaped by a sometimes uneasy blend of public service and commercial criteria, as the information marketplace has become steadily more competitive. Political journalism has acquired some of the character of a review medium, rating individual politicians as if they were opera singers or actors, and inviting citizens to do the same.
