Douglas Carswell's Blog

Are you a Eurosceptic? Blame the pesky press

Your Euroscepticism is all the fault of the pesky press, apparently. 

According to this daft article by the London School of Economics (LSE), its the "eurosceptic sentiment .... found within the British print media and the right-wing press in particular" which explains why we're so dubious about being part of the EU.

It's nothing to do with being a democrat. Or wanting to live in a self-governing country. Or because you switched on the TV and saw what European integration produced on the streets of Athens and Madrid.

Oh no, say the experts. It's because of what the press tells you.

I don't for a second dispute that there's a strong popular mood of Euroscepticism in the country. Nor do I doubt that many, if not most, of the large circulation newspapers are resolutely Eurosceptic.

What amazes me is that the LSE could publish an academic study that appears to lazily assume that the former is caused by the later.

"The feeling of separation from the EU expressed by British citizens" declares this academic research "mirrors the representation of Britain's relationship with the EU in newspaper discourses".

Might they not have that the wrong way round? Could it be the case that newspapers mirror what their readers think? The thought does not seem to have crossed the LSE academics' minds.

Recently, the Daily Express endorsed an In / Out referendum. I am told that partly as a result, their market share increased.  Has this influenced how other newspapers look at the referendum question?  

A serious academic study of the relationship between popular Euroscepticsm and the media might attempt to analyze this, rather than imply we think as we do because we are sheep.

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