Newspaper response to the Edinburgh congestion charging proposals

Abstract

The media has been identified as a key player in the implementation of road pricing schemes, often against a background of low public and political acceptability. A media analysis framework was applied to the Edinburgh congestion charging proposals, to investigate newspaper response to the scheme. Newspaper coverage had been highly politicised and increasingly negative over the time period leading up to the referendum in February 2005, when the proposals were rejected by Edinburgh residents. The role of newspapers in reporting and making opinion, and the balance of positive and negative arguments towards the congestion charging proposals, are explored.