PS Exam 3

communications marketplace

-This too has become more fragmented.-Radio experiences a lull as an information medium, but beginning in the '80s, take radio caused it to go through a resurgent period it still enjoys.-the '90s saw the emergence of the Internet, which provided a completely new way of advertising in politics.

Patterson asks, why did the press become journalist-centered and strategy-centered?

"Part of the answer lies in the nature of the modern campaign. Strategy became more important as political parties carried less of the burden of electioneering and the candidates assumed more of it." Changes in journalism: Television greatly increased the number of reporters whose names were widely known to the public. Journalism became a prestigious calling. It was one thing for faceless journalists to defer to politicians, it was another for celebrity journalists to do so. They became more assertive. The reputation of journalists was further boosted by the breaking of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandals.

Losing Ground frame

The story of why they are losing ground dominates the coverage, which results in an unflattering portrayal.

television marketplace

-dominated by broadcast networks from the '50s through the '80s, when cable television became more accessible.-satellite television came shortly after, this cause the tv marketplace to become more fragmented-now in the 21st century we also have social media, and many ways to watch including computers, phones, and tablets.

subliminal message

-message presented below the threshold of conscious awareness-first used in political advertising in an ad paid for by the RNC, called "RATS". This was superimposed over critiques of Gore's prescription drug plan

three important themes Patterson uses to analyze the media's coverage of campaigns

1) Journalistic values and political values are at odds with one another, which results in a news agenda that misrepresents what is at stake in the choice among the candidates.2)Journalistic values, though supposedly neutral, introduce an element of random partisanship into the campaign, which coincidentally works to the advantage of one side or another.3)Election news, rather than serving to bring candidates and voters together, drives a wedge between them.

Goals of a nominating process

1. Produce good candidates (ability to fulfill the requirements, character, judgment, experience, ability to work with others, ability to campaign, most important is governing ability - should be biased to candidates with proper background and talents). 2. Legitimacy - people must believe the process is fair, serves their interests, and is responsive to their opinions. Suggests doing away with primaries, but caucuses retain legitimacy. 3. The process should strengthen the political party as an instrument of governance. Contests pit elements within a party against each other. Campaigns must leave a president with a firm basis for influence over his or her party.

Role of media in elections

1. The power of journalists to influence the selection of candidates 2. the requirement for candidate's to "televise well" 3. the explosive growth and diversification of made-for-media campaigns.

Political Functions of the Internet

1. They provide access to news and political information that was previously less accessible. 2. They create channels of communication between elected officials and citizens, interest groups and citizens, and citizens and citizens. 3. They provide forums for political discussion. 4. The offer politicians another chance to gauge public opinions, other than in polls, because it lets citizens offer immediate reactions to events.

1988

George H.W. Bush v. Michael Dukakis's Bush attacked Dukakis on being weak on crime, defense, and the environment. "Wedge Issues"- Drive a wedge between voters, or split voters who might otherwise vote similarly to each other. Dukakis tried to attack the position that what Bush was saying about him were lies.

IRS (Internal Revenue Service)

Governmental agency responsible for collecting federal taxes, issuing regulations, and enforcing tax laws

How can campaigns work

They must be organized for the press not by the press. Possible solution- shorten the nominating process

vicious cycle

as candidates become more aware of the ravenous appetite of media outlets, they become more eager to grab the attention of those outlets

Jesse Ventura

A former pro wrestler and radio talk show host that relied heavily on the internet to reach younger voters and to get the message out about the Minnesota Reform Party. had a successful bid for the governorship of Minnesota.

527s

Organizations that are independent of any party or candidate, and thus are not regulated by the FEC, as they advocate publicly for or against specific candidates, parties, or policies

Modern Mass Party

A party that reached out to average people. instead of merely playing to elite policy makers.

Party Platform

A political party's statement of its goals and policies for the next four years. The platform is drafted prior to the party convention by a committee whose members are chosen in rough proportion to each candidate's strength. It is the best formal statement of a party's beliefs.

William Henry Harrison

A whig candidate that ran against Van Buren. Won the 1840 election as he was able to show up to rallies and stuff while Van Buren was stuck at the white house trying to help fix the economy. The elections featured the first of buttons, banners, and slogans. Harrison had many slogans "tippecanoe and Tyler too" and branded himself as an average man and Van Buren as a political elite to appeal to the average voters.

In his article about the 2016 election, Thomas Patterson writes that even the percentages of negative news about the candidates "understate the level of negativity."

He argues that much of the candidates "good press" was in the context of the horserace. Who is winning and who is losing and why? At any point in the campaign, one of the candidates is going to have the momentum, which in turn will lead to more coverage.

2008

Both candidates didn't want independent companies trashing their opponent. Both Obama and McCain had some ads that were occasionally negative. McCain tried to attack Obama's message of change and hope. Obama's attacked McCain without being overly negative. He suggested that the policies that McCain offered would bring little change from the Bush administration.

likely loser storyline

Bush in 1992. Can also apply to non-incumbents, like Barry Goldwater in 1964. It is also very negative.

Negative coverage of trump and clinton

Overall, the coverage of her candidacy was 62 percent negative to 38 percent positive, while his coverage was 56 percent negative to 44 percent positive.

front runner storyline

candidate with a presumably safe lead, and it contains some positive elements.

In his article about 2016, Patterson concludes, "The old journalistic adage that 'bad news is good news' has become an imperative." What does Patterson mean when he argues this? Explain your answer in one or two sentences.

He talks about about how the norms of American journalism dissuade reporters from taking sides in partisan debate, they can in turn bash both sides. If everything and everyone is portrayed negatively, there's a leveling effect that opens the door to charlatans.

character

Patterson says character is not irrelevant, but the press sets it up as a question of leadership and then covers it in terms of personal failings.

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

Banned soft money donations to political parties (loophole from FECA); also imposed restrictions on 527 independent expenditures (issue ads only, not direct advocacy for a candidate). Declared unconstitutional by Citizens United case. Also known as McCain-Feingold Act.

"Pre-Pre-Campaign"

Begins shortly after the previous elections with newspaper and magazine stories about potential presidential candidate.s

PAC's

Political Action Committees

soft money

Campaign contributions unregulated by federal or state law, usually given to parties and party committees to help fund general party activities.

1976

Carter had one commercial that was a biography of the man. Carter tried to raise doubts about the ethics of the Ford Administration. Ford's ads focused on the fact that he had more experienec that Carter and was accustomed to making hard decisions.

1996

Clinton ran ads on both television and the Internet to position himself as a defense against Republican extremism. Also attacked Dole quite frequently. Dole's ads seemed to waffle between attacking Clinton's credibility and playing up Dole's patriotism and service to the country.

FEC

Federal Election Commission, issues regulations & adviosry opinions that control PAC activities

Ridout and Fowler (2012)

Found that viewers' perception of the tone of an ad as negative or positive is significantly influenced by how it is covered in local news. If an ad is presented in the context of strategy, they are more likely to see it as negative.

2004

George Bush v. John Kerry Ads were particularly ugly. This is where 527 ads became very prominent. Kerry's campaign was too little, too late.

1956

Eisenhower v. Stevenson (AGAIN) Stevenson this time tried to attack that if something were to happen to the president, that Richard Nixon would take over.

1952

Eisenhower v. Stevenson. Eisenhower said the time had come to break the democrats' long hold on the reins of power. "It's time for a change" Stevenson tried to gain a name for himself.

Attack the Front Runner Strategy

Examples include Mitt Romney's announcement of a bid for presidency, same with Clinton in 2016.

Whimsical Vote

In primaries, the public is "feebly motivated and poorly informed. In these circumstances, the press's interpretations of what is happening in the race, and the glare of its spotlight, can significantly influence the vote."

According to the textbook, what criteria do news media use to judge the newsworthiness of campaign stories? What type of candidates are particularly hurt by this and why are they hurt?

Media judge the newsworthiness of campaign stories by general news criteria. They tend to pay little attention to minor candidates and newcomers whose changes for success are small. The lack of coverage makes it difficult for unknowns to become well known.

According to the textbook, what are "medialities," and why are they important to pay attention to?

Medialities are "events, developments, or situations to which the media have given importance by emphasizing, expanding, or featuring them in such a way that their real significance has been modified, distorted, or obscured." These types of stories can have a far more impact on the campaign than thousands of routine stories.

In his article about 2016, Patterson explains that there are at least four worrisome consequences of negative coverage. List and briefly explain three of those consequences

Indiscriminate criticism has the effect of blurring important decisions. An example was the journalists' lack of effort to answer if Clinton's allegations were to the magnitude of those against Trump in the 2016 election. Indiscriminate criticism also works against the party in power. If voters think everything is bad or going downhill, they may think it is time to change the way they are voting. Negative news will also erode trust in the news. Watchdog reporting can build confidence in the press, but when journalists condemn everything they see, they set seem a lot less credible.

According to the textbook, coverage of campaigns is negatively influenced by the commercial pressures that journalists face. These are based on the difference between what consumers want versus what they need in order to make good decisions. What are the pressures? What do consumers want? What do they need? What kind of story ends up dominating campaign coverage as a result?

It is difficult to mesh the public's preference for simple and dramatic stories with the need to present ample information stories. Information that may be crucial for voting decision is often too complex and technical to appeal to much of the audience. News people then feel compelled to write breezy infotainment stories that stress the horse race.

What has changed?

It is not the messaging that has changed as the much as the technology

2000

It should had been an easy victory for Gore as there were no issues really facing America except White House Scandals which he was stained with. Both Gore and Geroge W. Bush ran cautious ads aimed at undecided. They ran ads that challenged the integrity and experience of the other.

1960

Kennedy v. Nixon Kennedy tried to talk about the promise of the separation between church and state. He had several celebrities at his conventions talking on his behalf. He even tried to support one of the biggest African American celebrities, Harry Belafonte to get the black vote. Nixon's ads were all talking head spots, talking about issues. Kennedy was the more glamorous figure. Style over substance.

1964

Lyndon Johnson v. Barry Goldwater Johnson's "daisy ad". Girl is picking off petals as narrator is counting down a launch. The final image is a nuclear explosion. Another ad showed a girl licking an ice cream cone while the narrator talks about how the ice cream would be contaminated with nuclear fallout. "Eastern Seaboard" showed the eastern third of the country floating in the ocean. Goldwater had two major themes, that the government was large, wasteful, and controlling. And also that America was endangered by the soviet union.

Brad Parcale and the key reason for the Trump victory 386-87

Nearly $90 million the campaign invested in digital advertising.

1968

Nixon and Wallace's ads played up the failures of Johnson's presidency.

1984

Reagan focused on the ever-present danger of the Soviet Union and the fact that the economy was strong after four years of Reagan's presidency. "Bear in the woods" used a grizzly bear prowling through the woods to represent the lurking threat of the Soviet Union. The bear looked peaceful but the narration said otherwise. Walter Mondale pointed to the fact that the economy had actually been much worse for the first two years of Reagan's presidency that it had ever been during Carter's administration. His ads were no match for the masterful commercials of the Reagan campaign. His ads lacked a positive message. He mentioned how there was going to be tax increases and that the economy boom would be short lived.

1980

Reagan's ads included tape of a denunciation of Carter's presidency by Ted Kennedy, who had challenged Carter for the Democratic nomination (see "Kennedy/No More"); a denunciation of Carter's attacks on Reagan by Reagan's wife, Nancy (see "Nancy Reagan"); and an endorsement of Reagan by former President Ford, who urged Americans not to make the same mistake they'd made in 1976 Carter's ads were designed to address what were perceived as his weaknesses. Several ads tried to portray him as presidential—one emphasized his role as commander in chief (see "Commander 60"), while another featured an interview from the Oval Office (see "State 60" and "Oval Int."). "Flipflop" was an ad that suggested that Reagan had a dangerous attitude toward nuclear proliferation and that he would say anything in order to get elected.

Truth tests and their issues

Reasoning tests that can be used to determine truth, untruths and the in between. 1. Labels such as Fact or Fiction falsely imply that the press has a firm handle on truth. 2. When it becomes a regular feature of coverage, this form of reporting compels the journalist to search continually for suitable material, resorting to minor problems or stretching the evidence.

Game schema

Reporters see campaigns as games to be won

1992

Ross Perot ads were unique and visually stimulating. Had a star wars style rolling narration sometimes. Clintons ads were trying to make a name for himself while also talking about the state of the economy that Bush had put the country in. Bush's ads focused on the perceived dishonesty of Clinton and on the weakness of the state of Arkansas under Clinton's leadership.

Bethan Conway-Silva

She found that "news sources categorized as experts - who were primarily professionals in academic fields - were almost 17 more likely than other types of sources to be included in coverage that focused on midterm elections as a competitive game." This scholar looked at game schema coverage from the perspective of "experts" interviewed in media coverage of campaigns. She found that experts were frequently asked their opinion about who would win the election or about campaign strategy. She argues that this is not a good use of an expert's valuable time and opinion. They need to be asked more policy questions

sound bites

Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. Typically, they are all that is shown from a politician's speech on the nightly television news.

How much free media did Donald Trump get?

Some say that he received free media valued at $5.9 billion compared to Clinton's $2.8 billion. Over 11 billion spent in 2016 and 2018 campaigns.

Stereotyping

commonly held views that people have of, for example, Republicans and Democrats. For instance, it is commonly believed that Republicans are stronger on foreign policy than Democrats, while Democrats are stronger on issues of social welfare.

2012

The Obama effort against Romney was largely focused on Romney's wealth, his career as a venture capitalist, and arguing against Romney's anti-health-care-reform arguments, since Romney oversaw his own health-care reform plan as governor of Massachusetts. The Romney campaign focused on the argument that, under four years of Obama, health-care reform was a disaster and the economy was still in terrible shape.

Advantages of investing in digital ads 387

The advantage of investing in digital ads is the enormous message-testing capabilities digital platforms provide, while also providing the same, if not better, allowances for microtargeting.

town hall meetings

The candidate can control the discussion by taking questions that are often rehearsed in advance from an audience that is often stacked with supporters. These events attract television coverage while allowing candidates to present their views without having to defend or explain them.

McGovern Commission

The democrats created this to review the party's nomination process to give average citizens a larger voice in choosing nominees.

Andrew Jackson

The first time a campaign was aimed at a mass audience. Martin Van Buren helped Jackson appeal to the South, the West, New York and Pennsylvania. ran in 1828, after what happened in 1824 that he called the "corrupt bargain." His re-election in 1832 was an even bigger attempt to appeal to voters at the mass level.

Oser, Hooghe, and Marien

The increased availability of the Internet has led to the emergence of new forms of political participation. Opinions differ, however, on whether this has led to a reinforcement of stratification patterns or to the political mobilization of new groups in society. The authors conducted a latent class analysis of a U.S. representative sample that indicates that online activism is indeed a distinctive type of political participation. Analysis of the sociodemographic stratification of the identified participation types confirms the mobilization thesis regarding age and gender but finds that traditional socioeconomic status inequalities are reinforced in online political participation.

According to the textbook, three features stand out in coverage of issues and events. Briefly explain each of these three features, in a sentence or two each.

The media devote a large amount of attention to horse race aspect of campaigns. Stories about campaign strategies, polls, fundraising, and advertising. Information about issues is patchy because the candidates and surrogates try to concentrate on issues that help their campaigns and avoid issues likely to alienate any portion of the huge and diverse electorate. Lastly, there is more issue coverage, albeit, unsystematic, than scholar have acknowledged in the past. Audiences will often overlook commentary on the issue because it is intertwined in horse race stories.

what has changed

The negative news coverage of campaigns. What has not changed is the negativity of the campaigns themselves.

Journalists are the problem when it comes to promises

The news media are, as a rule, overwhemingly negative.

Invisible Primary

The period before any votes are cast when candidates compete to win early support from the elite of the party and to create a positive first impression of their leadership skills.

What is the "primordial power of the press," as described by Patterson in his article about the 2016 election? Think back to the lesson on media effects from this course. What name did that lesson give to this power?

This is the power to direct out attention. One of the media effects that is talked about is agenda setting. The awareness, salience, and prioritizing that is talked about in lesson four are what essentially Patterson is saying here.

flip flop ad

This political ad suggested that Reagan had a dangerous attitude toward nuclear proliferation and that he would say anything in order to get elected.

According to Patterson in his article about 2016, he argues that "Trump met journalists' story needs as no other presidential nominee in modern times." Explain what Patterson means - what are those needs and how did Trump meet them?

Trump was able to make himself readily available to the press which was never the standard of candidate coverage. His words and actions were ideally suited to journalists' story needs. People don't care about the ordinary and expected, but rather what's new and different, and laced with conflict and outrage. Trump were deliver that material a ton at a time.

According to the textbook, what type of voter is the most likely to be affected by media coverage? Why is this the case?

Vote changes are most likely when voters pay close attention to the media and are ambivalent in their attitudes toward the candidates. Most voters already have an idea of who they are voting for at the start of the campaign, so the people who pay close attention to the media are the ones that are swayed.

losing ground storyline

When a leading candidate's public support sharply declines and the news reflects this.

anti-politics bias

a bias of the press that contributes to news that is harshly critical of those who seek the presidency.

Harry and Louise

a middle aged couple shown to be having casual conversations about the negative impact healthcare reform would have on their lives. ad campaign by Health insurance Association of America that got the public involved in striking the Clinton Health Care Plan of 1994

handbills

announcements on single sheets of paper

joe trippi

developed a strategy for reaching young voters who liked to interact on the Internet. Two features of the strategy were a web log, or "blog" that allowed supporters to network with each other and the other was a mechanism to donate to the campaign.

presidential ability

do the things reporters focus on reflect this? Their private lives can offer some insight regarding their trustworthiness and similar other personal traits. However, these insights are by no means a reliable guide to a person's character.

matching funds

donations to presidential campaigns whereby every dollar raised from individuals in amounts less than $251 is matched by the federal treasury

carlisle and patton

find that individual political activity in Facebook is not as extensive as popular accounts suggest. Moreover, the predictors associated with the resource model and Putnam's theory of social capital do not hold true in Facebook.

national political conventions

first broadcast to a national audience in 1952 and received extensive coverage in 1956. By the '90s, however, they were no longer as interesting to the public.

russia

it was clear that during the 2016 election they had intentions to impact our election through the use of internet.

Super Pacs

political action committees established to make independent expenditures

negative ads

political campaign advertising, usually on television, in which candidates criticize the opponents rather than emphasizing their own platforms

501(c)s

politically active nonprofits; under federal law, these nonprofits can spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns and not disclose their donors as long as their activities are not coordinated with the candidate campaigns and political activities are not their primary purpose

Permanent Campaign

politicians are always either running for office or announcing their intention to run for office

Martin Van Buren

prominent democrat from the state of New York, helped with Jacksons campaigning and created the idea of the modern mass party

Association

refers to efforts to connect a candidate to another person or an idea. This can be positive (such as a candidate linking himself or herself to a celebrity) or negative (such as Clinton's 1996 ads in which he repeatedly linked Bob Dole to Newt Gingrich).

one of patterson's solutions

shorten the party nominating phase -also slow it down, the weeding out of possible candidates is too quick now

bandwagon storyline

similar to pack journalism, in which the press covers a candidate as someone with a lot of momentum. This, he speculates, may have been responsible for the success of Carter and Clinton. This is the most positive sort of coverage.

demagoguery

speech that attempts to win over an audience through appealing to their prejudices and emotions, particularly those of fear, anger, and frustration

fighting words

speech that directly incites damaging conduct

a major lesson" from the 2016 campaign 386

that there is still much to learn about how politics and personality interact with the logics of digital and traditional forms of media to moderate the effectiveness of campaign messages.

Demonization

the process of trying to associate a candidate with really negative ideas or people. For example, one of the most famous of these is the "daisy" ad from 1964, in which the Johnson campaign was trying to associate Goldwater with the worst possible idea, nuclear holocaust.

Microtargeting

the use of direct marketing techniques that employ highly detailed data analytics in order to isolate potential customers with great precision

big problem for social scientists

the use of internet and social media platforms in campaigns is that it changes so rapidly, its almost impossible to keep up. By the time a study is complete, the world has moved one or more generations of technology further.

weakness of american political partie4s

this became extremely clear following riots outside of the DNC in 1968. After that the (D) and the (R) party both changed their nomination processes to allow anyone to be able to seek nomination.

battlefield metaphor

used to describe campaigns in election news. The media view it as a fight, conflict, struggle. They look at politics as something to be won when in reality it affects peoples lives through policy.

Governing Schema

voters focus on policy issues and leadership

Howard Dean

was the first democratic governor of Vermont and unknown to most of the country, used the internet to campaign and raise money. His personality caused him trouble and derailed his candidacy but his campaign established a model for future campaigns.

"Code words"

words that have secret or very special meanings, they allow voters to associate their own messages with them. Everyone perceives these words differently, ex- Liberal