THE MEDIA AND CAMPAIGNS

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

• Evaluate how people develop political opinions and how this impacts their political behavior.

• Analyze the theories of why people vote and apply them to the 2008 and 2010 Election.

• Identify and describe the formal and informal institutions involved in the electoral process

2008 A Media Election Like No other

The Election Media Blitz

• More Coverage than any election in history

• Uncertainty and excitement

• Dominated the News for 40 of 44 weeks in 2008

Viewers ate it up

• We couldn’t get enough

• Most watched/followed election in History

• Democrats watched more

• All about the Horse Race

Horse Race coverage made it exciting for us

• What is Horse race coverage?

• Why do the media like it

• What does it cover (and what does it ignore)

Type of Coverage in Primary

Content Coverage in the Primary

60%17%

15%

8%

Horse Race Background and Personal Issue Other

Horse Race Dominates

Content Coverage in the General Election

51%

20%

19%

5% 5%

Horserace Issue Advertising/$ Personal Lives Public Record

Tone of Coverage in the Primary

Media Coverage in the Primary

47

27

12

28

16 38 48 370

10

20

30

40

50

60

Obama Clinton McCain Giuliani

Favorable Unfavorable

Tone in the General ElectionCampaign Tone: General Election

14 36 28 17

2935 33 35

57

29

39

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

McCain Obama Palin Biden

Positive Neutral Negative

Amount of Coverage in the Primary

• The Democrats gathered More

• McCain was not very exciting

A Blip in GOP Coverage

• First Time in 3 months, the GOP gets more coverage

• Her Personal Life is great for Horse Race Coverage

Palin vs. Biden

• Palin’s Coverage

• Biden- the odd man out

Obama vs McCain

• Obama receives much more favorable coverage

• Why the Negative coverage of McCain

MEDIA BIAS

Media Bias

• Everyone Complains about it

• Structural Bias

• Political Bias

Where it Comes From

• Bias From the Right

• Bias From the Left

Bias in 2008

• 8 of 10 Journalists planned to vote for Obama

The Reality of it all

• Anti-Incumbent and Anti President

• Bad News is better than Good

• You can find it if you look

• Media remains a business

The Change in the Mainstream Media

A Change in Coverage

• The Big networks used to provide 80% of all political information

• We now pick our media

Table 8.4Media Usage in 2008 Presidential Campaign

A Change in Audience

• Television Remains the Main Source

• Newspapers and Radio are Dying

The Generational Change

• Old People Read Newspapers

• Young people use the internet

The New Media

Table 8.1Audience for Traditional Media and New Media

The Rise of the Internet

• 36% used it as the main source

• 59% used it at some point

• This the biggest change from 2008

Why the Internet

• Ideologically

• Structurally

User Generated Content

• Blogs ,Podcasts, Social Network

• What they do

• Limitations

Web Video

• The New Platform- unmediated

• Role in 2008

• Push vs. Pull Media

The Partisan Divide on the Internet

• The Democrats were more effective

• The Republicans were fighting the previous war.

Is this the end of the MSM?

• Probably not

• Still the best agenda setters

Timing of the vote

2008 A Media Election Like No other

The Election Media Blitz

• More Coverage than any election in history

• Uncertainty and excitement

• Dominated the News for 40 of 44 weeks in 2008

Viewers ate it up

• We couldn’t get enough

• Most watched/followed election in History

• Democrats watched more

• All about the Horse Race

Horse Race coverage made it exciting for us

• What is Horse race coverage?

• Why do the media like it

• What does it cover (and what does it ignore)

Type of Coverage in Primary

Content Coverage in the Primary

60%17%

15%

8%

Horse Race Background and Personal Issue Other

Horse Race Dominates

Content Coverage in the General Election

51%

20%

19%

5% 5%

Horserace Issue Advertising/$ Personal Lives Public Record

Tone of Coverage in the Primary

Media Coverage in the Primary

47

27

12

28

16 38 48 370

10

20

30

40

50

60

Obama Clinton McCain Giuliani

Favorable Unfavorable

Tone in the General ElectionCampaign Tone: General Election

14 36 28 17

2935 33 35

57

29

39

48

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

McCain Obama Palin Biden

Positive Neutral Negative

Amount of Coverage in the Primary

• The Democrats gathered More

• McCain was not very exciting

A Blip in GOP Coverage

• First Time in 3 months, the GOP gets more coverage

• Her Personal Life is great for Horse Race Coverage

Palin vs. Biden

• Palin’s Coverage

• Biden- the odd man out

Obama vs McCain

• Obama receives much more favorable coverage

• Why the Negative coverage of McCain

MEDIA BIAS

Media Bias

• Everyone Complains about it

• Structural Bias

• Political Bias

Where it Comes From

• Bias From the Right

• Bias From the Left

Bias in 2008

• 8 of 10 Journalists planned to vote for Obama

The Reality of it all

• Anti-Incumbent and Anti President

• Bad News is better than Good

• You can find it if you look

• Media remains a business

The Change in the Mainstream Media

A Change in Coverage

• The Big networks used to provide 80% of all political information

• We now pick our media

Table 8.4Media Usage in 2008 Presidential Campaign

A Change in Audience

• Television Remains the Main Source

• Newspapers and News Magazines are Dying

The Generational Change

• Old People Read Newspapers

• Young people use the internet

The New Media

Table 8.1Audience for Traditional Media and New Media

The Rise of the Internet

• 36% used it as the main source

• 59% used it at some point

• This the biggest change from 2008

Why the Internet

• Ideologically

• Structurally

User Generated Content

• Blogs ,Podcasts, Social Network

• What they do

• Limitations

Web Video

• The New Platform- unmediated

• Role in 2008

• Push vs. Pull Media

The Partisan Divide on the Internet

• The Democrats were more effective

• The Republicans were fighting the previous war.

Is this the end of the MSM?

• Probably not

• Still the best agenda setters