Some reasons why the media is not interested in Europe

Today if you are not already aware is the European election.

I shall at some point be dragging myself off to vote but it is interesting that apart from its impact on the Brown government and the BNP contribution,the media has generally ignored it.

Over at the Director's blog there is a a guest blogger who tries to interpret just why the media is not interested.

Dr Bart Cammarts first notes that

Having checked several media in other European countries, such as Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Spain, the campaigns there are in full swing with extra space in newspapers dedicated to the EU elections, a special banner on the front page of the websites ofhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif public broadcasters and newspapers, special daily election shows on television with features and live debates between leaders of the different parties, etc

but not in the UK

And the reasons? Wel partly due to the fact that we are distracted by the expenses scandal and the survival of Gordon Brown but also it seems that to focus on the smaller parties is not seen to be the responsibility of mainstream media.

As Dr Cammarts writes,

Apart from the Greens, many of these smaller parties are, to put it mildly, not very popular amongst many media. On the one hand the focus on the dogfight between New Labour and the Tories, with the LibDems as the third dog in the kennel, does not leave much room or space for smaller parties and alternative ideas in mainstream media. But on the other hand, a debate on Europe and European issues with parties such as the BNP and UKip inevitably invokes the ugly combination of populism and nationalism which if we are honest does not sit well in British mainstream (media) culture either.

Fr me though the main reason is that as a nation we are Euro sceptics and as a result the media would be taking a great risk in providing too much space for the hustings.