To think The Sun front page is really quite sinister?

[blue42]

Sun have done their usual pre-election front page, this time headlined "It's a Tory!", with a picture of a newborn being cuddled in blankets. Newborn's head is david cameron's. It's hideous.

Aside from that, does anyone else find it really quite sinister in terms of not-so-subtle meaning?

As a Scottish person in Scotland the pic of la Sturgeon as Princess Leia makes me want to bang ma heid aff a desk...

Just sayin....

A long time ago (when at school in Sovietland) we "studied" a newspaper clip (probably The Sun?) which showed a really old lady as topless page 3. The strapline was that this would be what page 3 would be like if someone (Labour?) won the election. I had completely forgotten about it until now, but at the time thought it was a little far-fetched that a newspaper would do such a thing (even in decadent West). But perhaps it was true after all? Does anyone remember it?

This is what I thought as soon as I saw that photo on the sun..

It's the Sun. What do you expect from that shit-rag?

Excellent clip, Twart!

the Sun endorsement is one of the most powerful in media land. Plenty of people vote based on their front pages, sadly.

I don't think they do. They vote because of the steady drip-drip of information they've received. But arguably that reaffirms and consolidates their existing beliefs.

That's why some people read The Sun or Daily Telegraph and others read The Mirror or the Guardian.

I'm a Labour voter. I've always found it possible to read Conservative-supporting newspapers - which are most of them - and not be swayed. I imagine you do too OP. Why don't you think the same of other people?

The Sun have a 30-year tradition of that sort of front page to uphold. That's all they're doing.

Normally they do it even closer to the election, like with the Kinnock light bulbs splash. So expect another next Thursday morning.

And an It Woz The Sun Wot Won It afterwards if Dave gets back in.

yes, Limited, yours seems a reasonable summary of what is going on the the world of the tabloid.

People increasingly get their information from online sources and print media is becoming less and less important.

It's a bit of a bugger for me because I work in print media. But it does mean that Wot The Sun Sez doesn't matter that much any more.

limitedperiodonly, I agree that people gravitate toward one paper or another because it reinforces their existing opinions. I am not suggesting that a Labour voter would be persuaded to vote Tory if the Mirror suddenly decided to back cameron.

However, there are those who are unsure, and many of those, when it comes to putting an X in the box, will revert to what they see in their immediate sphere, which includes family, friends, and yes, tabloid of choice. You are very welcome to tacitly suggest that I don't credit other people with the intelligence to make up their own minds, but I have seen it time and time again in my own experience.

My suggestion that you don't credit other people with the power of independent thought that you possess wasn't tacit.

Gosh, I bow to your superiority.

I'm not asking anyone to observe my superiority. It appears that you are.

I am pointing out what I have seen with my own experience, and applying it to the "plenty" of people I have seen do it. You appear to think that means I think everybody else is stupid.

Thanks for your feedback, but I won't be engaging any further with you.

Don't buy The Sun JFT96

I am also pointing out what I've seen IME. And fair enough to your second point.

Creepy and very weird. Would be great if this could be first British election outcome not manipulated by the Murdoch empire.

What are the chances??

Murdoch doesn't want Labour to win the election because Ed Miliband has publically snubbed him and would likely make changes that would cost him money.

So in England, he wants folk to vote Conservative, and in Scotland he wants us to vote SNP. It's an 'Anyone but Labour' tactic.

I think voting Labour is an excellent decision for other reasons mainly policy but also a leader that actually cares, but I think 'to spite Rupert Murdoch' is a nice bonus.

But yes, very creepy!

My mother voted Conservative in 1979 because she thought that, being a woman, Mrs. T would put sanitary towels on the NHS.

Some people really are clueless when it comes to politics and they want to be.

I would agree that the print media is less important these days in influencing voting intentions but it is still useful at least in gauging the approach to be taken by the whole of Murdoch's organization which I believe is covert neutrality.

Murdoch will always steer his dealings to his greatest advantage and I don't think those pictures will play out in quite the way that people might imagine. The pictures are more important than the editorials because who regularly reads editorials in newspapers apart from other journalists?

Both pictures seem to me to be capable of being interpreted in different ways and for different purposes by different people. I would pay little heed to any possible effect they might have on the streets.

Breakingdad77

When gorden brown first came in he was given the nod and wink that the media was behind him if he brought forward the election, so he could have a full 4 years at number ten. But he declined as he didn't want to be their puppet. There was an almost instant backlash in the way he was portrayed in the media after that

Do you think most Sun readers even know how to vote? I don't think the vast majority even know how to read.

EmeraldThief your attitude and the Op's is the kind that I despair over.

It makes me angrier than pesky people who don't do what I want.

He makes a very ugly baby. I can't see how it would encourage me to vote conservative really.

Very interesting that the Scottish version is different - suggests that maybe the tabloids don't set the political tone as much as we think, Wasn't it the Sun that once claimed it was "the sun what won it" when they backed New Labour in 1997? If they really think they have the power to swing the electorate you think they'd have a more consistant idea of who they want them to vote for wouldn't you?

Instead it suggests more that they just print what they think their readers want to read. They wouldn't sell many copies in Scotland with a pro-Tory stance.