Newspaper Watch: You scratch my back

The annual Fianna Fáil think tank, which started on 4 September in Westport, provided newspaper editors with much-needed respite from the summer 'silly season'. After eight weeks of parliamentary recess, during which they were forced to devote their front pages to trivial matters such as Israel's invasion of Lebanon, the barbarism of our prisons and our renegade police force, they grasped the chance to focus on the really important issue: the banal utterances of politicians.

The Irish Times welcomed "the beginning of the political season" with particular relish. On 4 September, their front page announced the news that Fianna Fáil is going to "unveil parts of its 2007 general election manifesto in the coming months" rather than keeping their policies under wraps until the start of the official campaign. The following day, their lead story, entitled "Opposition would threaten prosperity, says Ahern", covered the Taoiseach's press conference from Westport and announced the "campaign for the next general election began in earnest" with his declaration.

The Irish Examiner also carried Ahern's remarks on their front page, although they chose to focus on the fact that he insisted "the government would not attempt to buy the next election". The Independent, too, focused on the prospects of a giveaway budget and supplemented it with a review of ministerial performance and an incoherent editorial.

What is interesting about these stories is the fact they carried virtually no information, yet were presented as the most newsworthy events of the day.

The timing of Fianna Fáil's policy promises is a fairly minor marketing decision which was predictable from the general trend towards prolonged election campaigns. Ahern's warnings about the dangers of the opposition are even more banal. In times of economic growth, incumbents always claim the economy will be endangered if they lose. Presenting such predictable banalaties as headline news is closer to marketing than it is to news coverage.

The Examiner's story about Ahern's promise not to buy the election was even more obviously information-free. The last line of the article reminded us that "last year, the government also played down suggestions of a giveaway budget, only to produce one that was widely regarded as exactly that", revealing that the story's contents were unreliable.

So why does the press devote so much space to covering the empty pronouncements of politicians when they hardly attract sales?

Partly, it's because it's easy. Parliamentary debates and political press conferences can be efficiently covered by political correspondants without extensive research, interviews or detailed background explanations. On a more sinister note, it's a sign of the unhealthy symbiotic relationship between political power and the press. The press depends heavily upon political figures for access to news – leaks and informal briefings make up a large proportion of political reportage – and, in return, the politicians expect that their pronouncements will be reported with suitable prominence.

Furthermore, an avowed commitment to civic responsibility is used by the broadsheets to distinguish themselves from their tabloid cousins. Emphasising the importance of the political system and its democratic institutions is a fundamental part of their civic duty – even when it amounts to nothing more than a load of rhetoric that nobody believes.p