Crosstalk

by Just, Marion R.; Crigler, Ann N.; Alger, Dean E.; Cook, Timothy E.; Kern, Montague; West, Darrell M.

• ISBN13: 9780226420219
• ISBN10: 0226420213
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-03-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

The most comprehensive portrait of a presidential campaign in more than a decade,Crosstalkfocuses on the 1992 U.S. presidential race and looks at how citizens use information in the media to make their voting decisions and how politicians and the media interact to shape that information. Examining political advertisements, news coverage, ad watches, and talk shows in Los Angeles, Boston, Winston-Salem, and Fargo/Moorhead, the authors chart the impact of different information environments on citizens and show how people developed images of candidates over the course of the campaign.Crosstalkpresents persuasive evidence that campaigns do matter, that citizens are active participants in the campaign process, and their perceptions of a candidate's character is the central factor in the voting process. This innovative study contributes significantly to our understanding of the 1992 presidential campaign and of campaigns in general, and shows how election campaigns can play an important role in the long-term vitality of democracy.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Acknowledgments	xi
PART ONE Studying Campaign Discourse
Constructing the Campaign	3	(15)
The Design of the Study	18	(25)
PART TWO Citizen, Candidate, and Media Messages
The Citizens' Agenda	43	(19)
Candidate Advertising	62	(27)
Media Coverage	89	(31)
Shared Constructions: Ad Watches and Candidate Interviews	120	(31)
PART THREE Interpreting Messages and Voting
How Citizens Interpret Campaign Communication	151	(26)
Media Use and Candidate Assessments	177	(27)
The Logic of Considerations and the Vote	204	(29)
PART FOUR A Constructionist Model of Voting
Discourse and Decision	233	(12)
Appendixes	245	(18)
Notes	263	(16)
References	279	(14)
Author Index	293	(4)
General Index	297