Lithography
Century of Spin (Pluto Press, 2008), David Miller
and William Dinan make the following comment
on the situation in the UK: ‘... it is clear that those
in power or likely to assume power in Britain are
in the grip of business ideologues, in the grip
more precisely of the professional idea warriors,
the think-tankerati, the spinners, the lobbyists’.
Lobby Practice A book of rules of conduct
written by, and abided by, UK parliamentary
lobby correspondents who operate from offi ces
in the House of Commons and whose access to
the centres of power is highly prized. Th e lobby
system in the British House of Commons goes as
far back as 1886. Correspondents meet daily at
Downing Street, the home of the prime minister,
and weekly on Th ursdays in the Commons for a
briefi ng by the PM’s press secretary.
Th e system has been subjected to considerable
criticism on the grounds of its secrecy, alleged
cosiness and danger of collusion between
government and privileged lobby correspon-
dents. It has been varyingly called ‘an instrument
of closed government’ and the ‘real cancer of
British journalism’. At the heart of the criticism
is the fact that the lobby correspondents receive
no more information than government wishes
them to know; if they break the rules of Lobby
Practice, they know their privileges will be with-
drawn. See phillis review of government
communications (uk), 2004.
Localization Th e process by which global media
tailor their products for local markets and local
audiences. Th e 1980s and 1990s saw a dramatic
expansion of TV channels crossing national
borders, and this trend was nowhere more
manifest than in Europe. Companies such as
MTV, CNN, Sky News, BBC Prime, BBC World
and National Geographical reached out for pan-
European audiences.
Initially, channels such as MTV (launched in
the US in 1981 and in Europe in 1987) operated
in a global capacity, that is in the sense of an
increasingly homogenous culture, offering a
single brand regardless of national and regional
diff erences. Th ey were swiftly to recognize the
importance of catering to local tastes.
Jean K. Chalaby in ‘Transnational television in
Europe: Th e role of Pan-European channels’ in
the European Journal of Communication (June,
2002) writes that ‘these cross-border players
awoke to the reality of national boundaries and
cultural and linguistic markers and realized that
there were limits to the exportability of their
programmes’.
Localization became an imperative, at first
by opening local advertising windows, thenfour listener preferences: People-Oriented,
Action-Oriented, Content-Oriented and Time-
Oriented, each of which has their own ‘pros
and cons’. Th e key to being a good listener, they
argue, is to understand our own preference and
those of others, and to be willing to adapt to the
most suitable listening preference for the situa-
tion. We need also to adapt our delivery to the
listening preferences of others: ‘Just as we tend
to get in the habit of listening in only one way,
we also tend to speak to others in habitual ways.
To make the most of interactions, think of the
best ways to package information so others will
listen.’
Lithography Printing from stone, slate or a
substitute such as zinc or aluminium, with
greasy ink; invented in 1798 by Alois Senefelder.
Lloyd’s List Th e oldest international daily news-
paper, founded in 1734; perhaps most noted for
its role as almanac of world shipping movements
and casualty reports.
Lobbying Lobbying is a term usually used to refer
to the various activities undertaken by individu-
als, groups and organizations in order to infl u-
ence the public policy-making processes of local
and central government. Lobbying is at the core
of the activities of pressure groups. As Ralph
Tench and Liz Yeomans note in Exploring Public
Relations (Pearson Education Limited, 2009),
lobbying can be done by ordinary citizens or by
professional lobbyists.
Professional lobbying developed considerably
in the 1980s and 90s in the UK, and in his book
entitled An Introduction to Political Commu-
nication (Routledge, 2007), Brian McNair
describes political lobbying as a ‘huge industry
throughout the world’; it is also one in which
many public relations (pr) practitioners
are involved. As Ralph Tench and Liz Yeomans
explain, ‘Public Affairs is the much used PR
specialism that seeks to infl uence public policy
making through lobbying, done either privately
or publicly, along with media relations, or by
combining both routes.’ Many powerful interest
groups see professional lobbying as an essential
part of their strategies of persuasion.
It is also the case that some former lobby-
ists become politicians and former politicians
become lobbyists; further, that a significant
number of politicians maintain their connec-
tions with interest or pressure groups whilst
in power. Lobbying may be an integral aspect
of the political process in many countries, but
concerns exist about the relationship between
lobbyists – especially those representing power-
ful interests – and politicians. In their study A