Having a media profile could be seen as an aid to getting into office. So Lord Sugar for prime minister – or Jeremy Paxman as a Tory MP? Some analysts of Donald Trump’s status as the early front-runner in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination have attributed his success to his televisual history: a dozen seasons as a reality TV host, it’s argued, have bestowed the twin advantages of instant recognition and ease in the televised debates that form the earliest hustings. Although an apprentice in high-level politics, The Apprentice has made him a veteran of media tricks.And while it can be counter-argued that the billionaire’s main trump-card might be a general electoral trend towards unlikely outsiders – Alex Tsipiras in Greece, Jeremy Corbyn in the UK – Trump’s run raises the question of whether, in an era when electoral politics increasingly plays out on a variety of shiny flat devices, screen fame might be a route to power. Continue reading...
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