Political Communication

Political Communication :-

Definition :

The type of communication that is practiced to achieve political goals is called political communication. Political Communication is always related to the people. It's a purposeful activity, you want to convince people that's why you created a message.

2- Political communication is related to the sharing or exchange of ideas among citizens, political officials, political organisations and other related entities such as media.

3- Political communication is a dialogue in between political parties (organisations), political actors (officials), media and the general public.

From the above definitions of political communication we learn that it is a two-way communication which is always purposeful. In other words; you create a message and it creates an impact. When we go deep inside the motives of sharing information we get closer to the nature of communication. These definitions also tells us that political communication is the creation or sharing of ideas and opinion. As per my understanding this definition is pointing towards the stake holders like citizens who are the main key thing in political communication. Because 90% of the messages are created for the general public. Their main target is the general public. Winning sympathies and confidence is the main purpose of political communication. It differs from people to people - organisation to organisation who can create a good message.

Usually a political party hires a consultant who is expert in political communication, who then share their ideas with the party leader, like, what should be focused, what should be ignored, what should you speak in an interview etc. So basically they provide their consultancy services to the party and these consultants are known as PRO's or policy makers; you may name it.

Creation of a Message :-

Purpose:

1- Sometimes the purpose is to build reputation of the political party.

2- Sometimes you want to know your audience so you start studying them.

3- Bashing your opponent is also one of the purpose of message creation. You create a message to de-grade your opponent.

4- Narrative building is also one of the purpose of creating a message. Using hashtags on Twitter or other social media platforms are one of the examples of narrative building. You try to make it a trend among people.

So, above points tells us about purpose of creation of the message. With this, I would like to include one thing more regarding a "person" and "source". By this I mean to say that selecting the person and source is also one of the important part of all this process. You select a person and source to deliver your message.

Coming next to another definition of political communication. Which says that; "Political communication is a discussion going on."

It's a discussion among "general public, media, political parties (organisations) and political actors (officials).

There is one more definition of political communication which says that;

Definition:

Political communication is a blend of strategic communication, media studies, policies, and government. It's a mixture of all these things.

Explanation:

By strategic communication we mean; The type of communication that is practiced to achieve long-term strategic goals of the organisation. It also means sharing a right message with right people on right time through the right source.

Example:

NGO's and other organisations wants to achieve long-term strategic goals that might lost long for one year or more. It's thoroughly research. Totally based on research.

Careers In Political Communication:

Following are the careers for political communication graduates:

1- Policy Makers

2- PRO (Public Relations Officer)

3- Compaign Executive

4- Speech Writers

5- Lobbyist

6- Political Journalist

7- Professor of Political Communication 

1- Policy Makers:

Policy makers are the expert people who are involved in designing policies for any government or non-government organisations. Usually a political party hires a consultant who is expert in political communication, who then share their ideas with the party leader, like, what should be focused or what should be ignored, what should you speak in an interview, what should you speak in public.etc. So these are basically ideas shared by that consultant with the party leader. That consultant is expert in political communication who is known as a "policy maker". You might have heard the word "think-tank" from lawmakers or political officials. They say that we have a "think-tank". Who is that "think-tank" actually? That "think-tank" is actually the most witty and wisest of the party figures who's known as a policy maker.

2- PRO: Public Relations Officer:

Usually PRO's do ensure the better image of their employer in the media. They also try to impress and convince the people.

They try to issue a policy statement related to any political events and events on behalf of their employer. Sometimes they go for press conference, sometimes for press briefing, handouts, and press notes.

- Press Conference:

Basically press conference is held in press club. It's and open invitation to all journalists. You pay Rs-/5000 to the press club and the journalists present there capture your photos and record your videos and then share it through different media platforms.

- Press Briefing:

It's a bit different from press conference. You invite selected journalists, you keep it limited. This is the main difference in between both press conference and press briefing.

- Handouts:

So, every minister has their own PRO who travels with them in the same car and at the end of the day S/he publish a handout regarding the event that he visited with the Minister.

- Press Notes:

It's a statement given on behalf of the organisation or institution in emergency situation.

Including one thing more regarding PRO. Sometimes a political party hires a PRO who works for them hiddenly. These are also known as private PRO's.

3- Compaign Executive:

A person who is incharge of election compaign of any person or a particular political party is called "compaign executive".

It's a tiring job. You'll be guiding a person to achieve their goals.

- Identifying the hotspots, means; you do assessment of what you're sharing with the people. 

- People are unable to share anything with you. Usually these are called swing areas.

Example:

You go outside on walk and you decide that you are going to vote for PML-N but after returning home in the evening your mind is changed, so these votes can fall anywhere. So, this is called "swing areas".

4- Speech Writers:

Speech writing is also one of the careers for political communication graduates. You can write good speeches for PM/CM/President/MPA/MNA etc.

5- Lobbyist:

Lobbyist is a person who develop good relations with the elected members of Parliament/assembly/other influential people in the system. Their services are hired by different individuals, political parties and institutions.

6- Political Journalist:

A journalist who covers politics as a beat is known as political journalist. Specific assigned areas are given to them for coverage. By the word "politics" in the very first line of definition we mean; political organisations.