The Medium and the Message Television Advertising and American Elections

by Goldstein, Kenneth M.; Strach, Patricia

• ISBN13: 9780131777743
• ISBN10: 0131777742
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-11-10
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This unique book uses a combination of sophisticated methodologies and cutting edge data to present accessible insights on American politics and campaign advertising in the United States.KEY TOPICSIts contributing authors tackle politically and policy relevant questions on the use and effect of political advertising, address campaign finance reform, and focus on improving the quality of elections.For political professionals, journalists, all the players involved in federal campaignsand anyone with an interest in them.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(4)
Kenneth M. Goldstein
Patricia Strach
Campaign Advertising Strategies in the 2000 Presidential Nominations: The Case of Al, George, Bill, and John	5	(22)
Travis N. Ridout
What Did They See and When Did They See It?: Measuring The Volume, Tone, And Targeting of Television Advertising in the 2000 Presidential Election	27	(16)
Kenneth M. Goldstein
Television Advertising in the 2000 Congressional Elections	43	(28)
Paul S. Herrnson
The Electoral Impact of ``Issue Advocacy'' in 1998 and 2000 House Races	71	(13)
Jonathan S. Krasno
The Impact of Issue Advocacy and Party Soft Money Electioneering	84	(21)
David B. Magleby
The View From the Air: Television Advertising in Virginia's 2000 Senate Campaign	105	(22)
Paul Freedman
L. Dale Lawton
Pay to Play: Parties, Interests, and Money in Federal Elections	127	(28)
David C. W. Parker
John J. Coleman
Index	155

Excerpts

The chapters inThe Medium and the Message: Television Advertising and American Electionswere originally presented at a conference in April 2001. The conference was attended by political scientists, journalists, consultants, and lawyers. This combination of campaign experts, who too often sit at separate intellectual and practical tables, was able to listen to and learn from each other in important ways. Our goal with this book is to build on the synergies at the conference, to communicate serious social science research on important policy issues to a wide variety of audiences, and to create a dialogue among scholars, journalists, and political professionals.Generous grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts made this conference possible. More importantly, grants from the Trusts have made possible the purchase, processing, and analysis of content and targeting data on television advertising. These funds are not only allowing scholars and journalists to describe the nature of modern campaigns, but also allowing scholars to gauge their effectiveness. In the long term, these television advertising data will be a valuable archive for future scholars.We would like to thank Evan Tracey, president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, for making these data available to academics at a reasonable cost. His help and insight have made this project possible. We would also like to thank Michael Franz and Joel Rivlin for their excellent work as research assistants on all aspects of the project.Without the help of all of these people the work of the Wisconsin Advertising Project would not be possible, and we are immensely grateful. Kenneth M. Goldstein Patricia Strach