1 The Media’s Role in Elections: Air Wars, Part I MU MVZ 449 Spring 2010 Dave McCuan Masaryk University Principal Ideas Here to Consider • Why is the media important to the electoral process? • What information should the media provide to voters about elections, campaigns, and candidates? • Do you think the media provides that information now? Why or why not? 2 Why are the media important to elections? • Information important for holding officeholders accountable • Help translate citizen preferences into policy by helping determine issue agenda • Help candidates communicate with voters What are the principles that guide reporters and publishers in their coverage of elections? How well do these principles coexist with the role we want the media to play in elections? 3 Media Industry Incentives • Publishers/editors: make a profit • Reporters: write a story by deadline • Reporters: maintain sources What does the media cover? • Not politics • Sexy politics • High profile campaigns • “The Horserace” • “Inside baseball” 4 How does media coverage affect campaigns? How do the media affect campaigns? • Create name recognition • Create a dominant storyline about a candidate • Set expectations • Create bandwagon effects • “Prime” the electorate with issues • Evaluate candidate strategies • Report the outcome 5 How do campaigns try to affect the media? Free vs. paid media • Free media: news organizations act as intermediaries and communicate the candidate’s message in their own frame • Paid media: candidates pay to communicate their message 6 “Professional Politics” Industry Incentives • General Consultants as “Gatekeepers” • Specific, narrow segmented specialized consultants • “Network” and party effects • “Incentivized” spillovers • Timeframes & movement of dollars • Differences between candidate and noncandidate campaigns here Why Do Voters, Candidates & Campaigns Use Technology for Information Acquisition? • Cognitive Needs – Desire (demand) for information, knowledge, understanding • Affective Needs – Aesthetic, pleasurable, and emotional experiences • Personal Integrative Needs – Inner-directed, deal with credibility, confidence, stability, and status • Social Integrative Needs – Outer-directed, strengthening relationships with family, friends, the world • Escapist Needs – Desire for tension release or diversion - Katz, Gurevitch, and Haas, 2001 7 Diffusion Theory • Rogers (1995) has outlined four parts of “diffusion” through the tools of the media: – Innovation system – Social system – Time component – Communications channels to others in sphere • And occurs through five steps: – Knowledge – Persuasion – Decision (adopt or reject) – Implementation – Confirmation But what of the candidate & campaign side of the equation? What decisions does a candidate have to make when deciding when & where to buy ad time? 8 What decisions does a candidate have to make when deciding when and where to buy ad time? • Ratings points vs. costs • Level of race vs. “exposure” (two-fold concept here) • Political geography – Media markets What Candidates & Campaigns See 9 How They “Map” This View: A Debate Media Markets in the U.S., 2003-2004 10 What decisions does a candidate have to make when deciding when and where to buy ad time? • Ratings points vs. cost • Political geography • Few or many messages • How often to air them • To attack or not, and if so, when The role of the free media • Controversial ads get media coverage! – The “Daisy Spot” (1964) – Revolving Door (1988) – The “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” ads (2004) – The “3 am” spot (2008) • Ad-watch boxes • Response: “ads with footnotes” 11 Air Wars, Part II What do positive ads do for campaigns? • Create familiarity, name recognition • Build favorability ratings • Create impression of electability 12 How can a campaign respond to negative ads? • Hit back • Play the blame game Negative Ads • Positive Ads • Contrast Ads • Attack ads • Outside groups: – Swift Boat Vets, Texans for Truth, Progress for America, New Democrat Network, MoveOn.org • Shadow and web ads 13 To what degree to campaigns control the agenda? • Fixed vs. fluid agenda • Priming • Defusing Links to Consider, Use • Advertising • http://webserve.govst.edu/users/ghrank/Advertising/Pitch/how_to_analyze_ads.htm How to Analyze Ads • http://www.adage.com/century/ Advertising Age's collection of ads over the past 100 years • http://www.adbusters.org/home Adbusters home page featuring spoof ads and serious commentary • http://www.pBS.org/30secondcandidate/ PBS's "30-second Candidate" including "Tricks of the Trade" for TV ads • http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/pol_ads.html University of Iowa's links to political advertising including QuickTime movies • Visual Persuasion • http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article80.html The Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time • http://nuovo.com/southern-images/analyses.html Basic Strategies in Reading Photographs • http://www.pbs.org/ktca/americanphotography/index.html PBS's "American Photography: A Century of Images" • http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html A great resource of images, including American propaganda poster of WWII • http://www.medialit.org/ The Center for Media Literacy • Resources • http://www.kamous.com/site/references-umich-edu-83253 • Dictionary of symbolism • http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ and http://www.answers.com/topic/logical-fallacy-2. Comprehensive guides to logical fallacies • http://www.seussville.com/university/reasoning/ Test your power of reasoning with Dr. Seuss • http://www.iep.utm.edu/g/greekphi.htm Information on the Greek philosophers • http://advertising.utexas.edu/research/law/catholic.html The Vatican's take on advertising