Media Used by Presidential Campaigns - Term Paper Example

Introduction It came into recent light that "politics is completely shaped by media, because media has the ability to change perceptions and ideas of millions from one thing to the other. All these perceptions are based on political-realities. Media is responsible for a lot more than just the face of politics, media is the politics" (Doris Graber, Mass Media and American Politics, 2001). Time and history are evident of the fact that, the way media portrays a presidential or political candidate, is directly responsible for the winning or losing of the candidate, thrown in with the fact that today, media is one of our prime resources of information, glamour, and education. Even with this, many critics often oversee the main underlying issues of any political campaign but, they target the appearances and characters of the politicians and the way the political ads are advertised. They claim that bad advertisement is the sole factor which demeans all the major issues that surround a political campaign. It is also said that the way a campaign is aired on television by the media has made a political event into a popularity contests and has the result of candidates becoming slaves to the voter's opinions and not its leaders. Advertising in all aspects is covered up by a one-liner which says that "the advertiser's product is a lot better and workable for the viewer as the competitor's products". To make a decision for or against this claim is up to how the viewer as to how they perceive it. It may not important what a certain person decides to buy for dinner after seeing the ads. But what that person, as a voter decides to vote may have huge far-reaching and consequential effects. "Advertisements are more important than debates and speeches in political campaigns" (Just, 1990). With the help of media, the general public becomes aware of the how’s, what’s, when’s, where, which ones, and whys of the political scenario of any political campaign. A sensible use of media can be used to teach the voter-of-tomorrow, to decide how, when and why to vote a certain politician appearing on the media screen. Humans are highly judgmental by nature, so it is very important as to how a politician is portrayed on the media, especially with regard to someone who is seeing the politician for the first time. As the saying goes "first impression is the last impression". The voter's and the public in general will decide if they want to vote for a certain politician in the first 20 seconds of seeing an advertisement of a political campaign. According to the U.S. the presidential race between ford and carter indicates the fact that carter's image clearly shaped a better picture in their minds (1976). The reaction to ford's image played a major role (Oshagan, 1988). Media and candidate's use of media has very strong impressions on those who are about to make their decisions about voting for one candidate or the other (research on the Australian Elections). people who decide upon who they will vote, before a campaign starts are not moved by any forms of media campaigns as are those who have not yet decided. They are very much likely to be moved by the campaigns and are thus the main focus of any political media campaigns. These voters are referred to as the "undecided voters" and they more often than not refer to the media for information about all candidates and that too very near the elections so that they have a clear view of what is and what is not. The debate between the US presidential candidates, Nixon and Kennedy is often quoted in history as a very good example of a typical media political campaign. It is also claimed that the way both of them appeared on television and the personae they exuded was a big reason for Kennedy's ultimate victory in the end. Although here some people also debate over fact that the way the media portrayed the two candidates was perhaps not that justified in their losing or winning. (Vancil and Pendell, 1987). Even the debates over the presidential nominations of the 1988 elections suggested the same thing. A study revealed that these 1988 debate the candidate who portrayed the strongest image and emotional appeals, the most logical arguments, and the most credibility was the one who ultimately won the debate. And it was also found that, the first impression of a candidate was, eventually the way he was voted for in the end (Keyton, 1990). George bush, in the 1998 campaign was able to win the elections with no debates at all. He only based his campaign on de-emphasis of issues, ridicule and emotional appeals. Therefore, implying that a lot of campaigns climb the ladder of success without any apparent need of such debates. A study carried out about the difference between the opinion of men and women and how they react to media analysis and the post-debate discussion they have, the the University of Florida in 1998, proved that women remained more neutral after a debate than men politically involved men of their equals, (Engstrom, 1989). Also during the 1988, presidential campaign a topic that was highly debated was on the difference of perception of men and women. Despite this the campaign planners of George Bush's political party were still able to go through it reasonably easily. The techniques they followed involved: Highlight Bush's motto about family life and values. Portray Bush as someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with women in the fight for equality. Showing the world that Bush was very much humane by proving his great ability of laughing at himself. Race plays almost as important a role as gender when it comes to advertising political campaigns. The difference between races is a huge source of information about how different people view different situations and social issues, and how they can possibly learn to solve it. It has been proved via a few studies that during debate candidates from a particular race would try and answer questions without alienating the interviewer from the other race. It has also been seen that even people of the same race sometimes can get into arguments. Therefore it remains to be pondered over and scrutinized if race is a factor to be treated lightly or with a lot of concern when it comes to debating between a black and a white candidate. Public awareness is greatly affected by the media, no matter how good or bad, positive or negative, the influence may be. It was found in a study conducted about the exposure to news and indicator of the increase in awareness among the public regarding the elections or the candidates. It also ensures that the voters are well in view of the fact about who's who and what's what, as long as they were the undecided ones. History saw that in 1972 to 1988, there was an increase in the rate at which media was utilized as a major news outlet for any political campaign. It had become a routine of showing the ads of the presidential candidates during the programs and this had large-scale effect of promoting the candidates. This report will look at a few presidential campaigns that were recorded on media from the 1980s taken from the web page “The living room candidate”, and analyze them. In 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected to be the governor of the state of California. He was a Republican. About him it was said the San Francisco Chronicle that “it is no exaggeration when it is said that Ronald Reagan Saved California”. When he joined the office, the state of California was near bankruptcy. So much so that it had a debt of 1.94million on it. But Reagan became the most accomplished tax-payer and collector and by the time he left the office, the state of California had transformed the 1.94 million debts to a surplus of 5.54 million. Another one of the republican leaders was John Kennedy. He was made president during the 1980s. He came to office and was responsible for the speech “NO MORE”. He claimed that the motto of his reign would be to say no more American hostages, no higher interest rates, no more high inflations, and no more Jimmy Carter. He was a very strong leader of the Americans in the era 0f the 1960s. A very famous democrat of the nation was Jimmy Carter, he has a military man himself and a Nepolis graduate, and so he knew that the security of his country and the other nations of the world was the most important responsibility that fell on his shoulder as the leader of the USA. He opened up projects in the Indian and Arabian ocean as this trade was essential for all nations of the worlds. He spent nearly 136 billion dollars a year for the machinery and weapons that were used for the defense of USA, every year. President Carter was also a man of faith. He used to take time out for private prayers and prayers with Rosaline. He knew that one thing remained constant, in the ever-changing decision, ever-changing directions and ever-changing facts, that faith and prayer were two things that would not change. And so he prayed endlessly and clearly. Conclusion All candidates are seen to spend a huge amount of their budget on media campaigning these days as more and more people avert to media for guidance (University of Texas at Austin, 2005). These candidates also spend budgets on bumper stickers, billboards, apart from the advertisements and television ads. Media coverage of and political campaign allows the candidates to make arguments, provide information and discuss important issues about and with their supporters during any elections. These campaigns may not a sure factor to vary the opinion of the people who have already made up their minds, but it is a sure factor to influence undecided minds. In presidential elections, no more than 1 % of electorate’s votes alone can determine the election results, therefore this 1% is very important for any president-to-be. And as that 1 % can be influenced with the correct usage of media so a lot of money is spend o media budgets. Bibliography Doris Graber, Mass Media and American Politics, (2001): http://www.amazon.com/Media-American-Politics-Doris-Graber/dp/1568026358 Oshagan, The involvement of Mass Media in Political Campaigns (1988): http://essaysforstudent.com/essay/Involvement-Mass-Media-Political-Campaigns/51688.html Vancil, David L. and S.D. Pendell (1987). "The Myth of Viewer-Listener Disagreement in the First Kennedy-Nixon Debate." Central States Speech Journal 38(1), 16-27. [EJ 368 620] Engstrom, Erika, et al. (1989). "Evidence for Differential Effects on Males and Females in the Wake of Post-Debate Analyses." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. [ED 311 485] Keyton, Joann, et al. (1989). "Political Values and Political Judgments: Analysis of Responses to the 1988 Presidential Debates." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southern Speech Communication Association. [ED 305 696] University of Texas at Austin; American History (2005): http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/team/lesson_3.html The living room candidate (1960): http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1980 Read More