Self-Presentation In Public Life: Deputy Leader Of The Liberal Party and Minister For Foreign Affair

jayunderwood
Sep 25, 2014
7 min read

Introduction

This report aims to objectively assess the media performance of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Julie Bishop, from her appearance of the television program Q&A and her communications via her official Facebook page. At the end of this analysis, the report will discuss and offer advice on possible improvements regarding both media contexts. The literature listed below will aid this report in assessing Julie Bishop's self-representation in both her performance on the program Q&A and her communication style via social media.

Literature Review

H.P. Grice explains that an effective speaker adheres to the truth (quality), gives sufficient information (quantity), expresses efficient information (relevance) and avoids obscurity and ambiguity (manner) (1975). Erving Goffman describes the representation of life as "performativity" asserting that the world see's life as a stage performance but hides the backstage production (Goffman, E. 1959). He further notes that morality and impressions are an ever-changing construction whilst assuring that the self is maintained with regards to face-work, props, teams, institutions and framing (Goffman, E. 1959). Furthermore, the upkeep of public self-image (face) often comes under threat from "pressure, debts, desire, negative evaluations and indifference or intentional harm" (Brown, P. & Levinson, S. 1987).

Self-presentation in Broadcast Media

The 'turn-taking system' for conversation involves 'turn component units' exemplify what is considered appropriate for a new turn to begin such as a pause or a hand gesture, whilst 'turn allocation' is an indication for a speaker to finish or hand over to another speaker (Gunders, L. 2013). Moreover, the 'claptrap' is a "trick, device or language designed to catch applause", whereas the term footing describes the speakers ability to change "the capacity in which they speak [...] and in turn, change the capacity in which the other participants at a gathering are present" (Gunders, L. 2013). Albert Mehrabian describes communication is more than just words, but rather a mixture of kinesics, haptics proxemics, chronemics and paralanguage (McKay, S. 2013).

Self-presentation in Social Media

Depending on one's values, desired selves often reflect admired characteristics to convey certain impressions that would result in popularity (Wong, W.K.W, 2012 pg. 186). There are several diverse forms of classification for self-presentation on social media. Mark Leary introduced the concepts of self-descriptions, attitude statements, nonverbal behaviors, social associations, conformity and compliance, aggressions, and risk taking (Leary, M. 1996).

Analysis

Q&A Appearance

Before Julie Bishop begins answering the questions, she appears very comfortable yet still holds posture and looks presentable. When questions are asked, Bishop maintains face by giving eye contact to the audience questioner, uses hand gestures to make her point clear and speaks in a strong assertive tone. Knowing this, she builds a relationship with the audience member, and in doing so, seems friendly and approachable. Regarding her answers, she gives the impression that she understands the concerns of the questioner, gives appropriate credit where credit is due and demonstrates knowledge about the issue by stating facts and figures.

"The policy has been clearly a failure ever since Labor changed the laws that had stopped the boats coming and stopped people taking that terrible journey to Australia. About 1,000 people are said to have died in recent years on that journey." - Julie Bishop

When the second audience member question is addressed to Bishop, she again keeps eye contact with the questioner but also corrects him regarding the facts used, and in doing so appears well-informed about the subject. Bishop is also applauded when she reminds the panelists that "this is a sensitive issue for a young woman" (2013). However, as the panelists begin to debate over the issue, Bishop voices an opinion that the other public figures disagree with. Instead of getting flustered and losing face by the disapproval, Bishop remains calm and continues to state her case without raising her voice or being rude. Further into the program, Bishop demonstrates loyalty when she defends fellow party members, Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott, who were "demonized" or criticized (2013). Additionally, Bishop appears animated when she leans against fellow panelist, Tim Ferguson, and pats him on the shoulder in a friendly and warm manner after Ferguson makes a joke at Bishop's expense. This also demonstrates Bishop's sense of humor and raises her likeability factor.

Social Media Profile

Julie Bishop's Facebook profile exhibits a professionally-taken profile picture of Bishop and a cover photo of someone relaxing on a beach. ten underneath her profile picture whilst her photos, followers, twitter account and campaign information are represented clearly along the top of the page. Her information, such as her previous job titles, contact details, education and address are listed as well.

Bishop's timeline mostly consists of photos that she has posted of herself and others whilst attending different functions, appearing on different television programs and campaigning. Bishop also regularly updates her status, mostly through Twitter, about current political issues, different functions she's attending and her support for local sporting teams. Additionally, she uses current Facebook mannerisms such hash-tags and tagging people via '@'.

"@WestCoastEagles: FULL TIME: @WestCoastEagles (108) v Brisbane (82) #goeagles” Well done guys #goeaglesgo" - Julie Bishop Facebook status (12/05/2013)

By frequently posting and updating her followers, Bishop is able to form a relationship with her supporters whilst still maintaining face by having full control of her social media profile. Unlike her appearance on Q&A, Bishop's Facebook profile is more light-hearted and for those who wish to see what she does in her private life on a daily basis, whereas Q&A is more about her political opinions and stance on current issues.

Discussion

Q&A Appearance

Throughout the program, Bishop maintained good face-work as she demonstrated control when answering questions, avoided embarrassment and effectively exploited the discrepancies of others. This is particularly evident when Bishop joked that Tim Ferguson should join the Labour Party because they both have no policies. Moreover, this helped frame the Liberal Party as superior over the Labour Party whilst also implementing a claptrap by Bishop. However, after Bishop voiced her opinion that university students should be notified if a non-student moved into their student accommodation, the remainder of the panel disagreed which resulted in a loss of credibility and audience support. But she managed to remain calm and assertive, resulting in no loss of face. What's more, Bishop demonstrated an effective use of paralanguage with her strong assertive tone when answering questions.

Furthermore, Bishop continued to maintain self by appearing as a united front with Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison after she defended them when they were condemned and "demonized" by the other panelists. Additionally, Bishop's ability to control the footing of the arguments was evident whilst answering a question in relation to comedians running for office. Whilst the other panelists were joking, Bishop stated:

"Now, I’m the first to say the tip for young players as politicians is take issues seriously, don't take yourself too seriously but when you try and use humor as a politician, as poor Mark Butler found the other day, it sometimes falls on very shaky ground." - Julie Bishop

Bishops use of kinesics was exemplified with her use of eye contact with audience questioners and her animated hand gestures, whilst her notions of haptics and proxemics became clear after she and Ferguson became touchy in a friendly and warm manner whilst joking around towards the end of the program.

Despite giving an all-round good performance, Bishop needed improvement with the concept of turn-taking. Although Bishop would wait until host, Tony Jones, asked for her opinion, Bishop would often interrupt other panelists, Bill Shorten and Christine Milne, mostly because they were from opposing political parties with diverse points of view. In addition, Bishop often lacked with her speech acts, particularly with regards to quality, quantity, manner and relevance. When asked about behavior protocols on asylum seekers by Jones, Bishop proceeded to dodge the question and give a long-winded tangent about the Labour party's failings. This prompted Jones to again ask Bishop to answer the question, only for her to repeat her previous answer. This is also indicated Bishop's struggle with chronemics, often resulting in Jones cutting her off before she was able to finish.

Social Media Profile

Bishop's non-verbal behaviors and use of props via her Facebook page range from her professionally taken profile picture and cover photo to her status updates about the victories of her favorite sporting teams. Rather than using a political photo, such as a Liberal party banner, the image of the beach as her cover photo likens Bishop as calm and friendly whereas her status' about the West Coast Eagles make her appear as 'one of the people' and therefore more likeable and approachable. Through the use of posting photos of Bishop attending ANZAC Day services and attending functions with her family, she is framed as an 'average Australian woman' and this in turn helps potential voters relate to her whilst also demonstrating her social associations.

Additionally, Bishop maintains self by stating her previous societal institutions, such as her university and high school, as well as her role in the Liberal Party. Bishop's involvement with the Liberal Party also asserts her conformity and compliance with the centre-right values that form this particular party. In general, the footing of Bishop's Facebook profile is different to her appearance on Q&A. Her profile represents a relatable 'everyday Australian', and primarily focuses on Bishop's life as a public figure rather than a politician. With this in mind, Bishop's profile lacks self-description. Her basic information merely states her job title, previous education and contact information rather than information about her personality, her friends or family. Although Bishop's profile aims to represent herself as an 'everyday woman', she still has this unrelatable sense about her due to this lack of basic information. Furthermore, Bishop's lack of attitude statements only hinders her cause of representing herself as attainable. It can be assumed that her morals and values replicate those of the Liberal Party but her opinions on other issues are not clearly stated.

Reference List

Goffman, E. (2009, November 29). Footing. Semiotica, 25(1-2), 1-30.
Grice, H.P. (1975). “Logic and Conversation,” Syntax and Semantics, vol.3 edited by P. Cole and J. Morgan, Academic Press. Reprinted as ch.2 of Grice 1989, 22–40.
Gunders, D. L. (2013). Performing in Public Life. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from https://learn.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-161147-dt-content-rid-873486_1/courses/COMU1010S_6320_20633/COMU1010-S1-2013_Lecture_Wk7_15Apr13.pdf
Helm, D. T. (1982). Talk's Form: Comments on Goffman's 'Forms of Talk' (5th ed.). Boston, MA., United States of American: Boston University Publishing.
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Leary, M. R., 1996. Self-presentation: Impression Management and Interpersonal Behavior. Boulder, CO: Westview
McKay, D. S. (2013). Embodies Knowing: Beyond Words. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from https://learn.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-161150-dt-content-rid 950055_1/courses/COMU1010S_6320_20633/COMU1010-S1-2013%20Lecture%20Wk%209%20Embodied%20Knowing.pdf
MP, J. B. (2013). Facebook. Retrieved May 11, 2013, from https://www.facebook.com/JBishopMP?fref=ts
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