David Niven

The Political Content of Late Night Comedy

During the 2000 national election season, there was unprecedented attention paid by the media, and by presidential campaigns, to the political content of late night comedy shows such as the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Late Show with David Letterman. Focusing on the more than thirteen thousand jokes about U.S. political figures from 1996 to 2000 on late night comedy talk shows, this study explores the choice of targets and subjects of political humor. The authors find that late night humor is heavily centered on the president and top presidential contenders, that the various late night shows tend to exhibit the same patterns in their choice of targets, and that the humor is generally devoid of issue content.

Objective Evidence on Media Bias: Newspaper Coverage of Congressional Party Switchers

Are the media biased? Many sources answer in the affirmative, typically indicting the media for a pro-liberal or pro-Democratic slant. Analysis subjecting these claims to objective testing, using baselines with which to compare coverage, has been lacking. By studying newspaper articles on congressional party switchers (members who have left their political party in mid-term), this research compares coverage when members of both parties have engaged in the same behavior. The results provide little evidence of partisan media bias, and no support for allegations of a pro-liberal or pro-Democratic bias.

The Mobilization Solution? Face-to-Face Contact and Voter Turnout in a Municipal Election

In the ongoing quest to understand and potentially improve voter turnout, many analysts have focused their attention on political mobilization effects. Some scholars suggest that the failure to engage in widespread personal mobilization efforts has contributed to declining turnout and that a recommitment to mobilization by parties, candidates, and others would reverse the trend. This research explores the effects of face-to-face mobilization efforts in select precincts in a 2001 Boynton Beach, Florida municipal election. Controlling for their past voting history, the face-to-face mobilization effort did increase turnout by about five points. The results suggest that face-to-face mobilization efforts increase turnout—at a huge cost in hours worked—but do so mostly by encouraging intermittent voters to go to the polls.

The Limits of Mobilization: Turnout Evidence from State House Primaries

Many analysts have lamented the decline of political mobilization efforts. They suggest that the cause of worsening voter turnout may be traceable to the failure of political candidates and political parties to target and activate nonvoters. This research explores the effects of face-to-face mobilization efforts in a sample of September 5, 2000, Florida state house primary races. Controlling for their voting history, the face-to-face mobilization effort did increase turnout by about 8% among those contacted. However, the effects were weakest among those who voted least regularly. The results suggest that implementing more face-to-face mobilization efforts would increase turnout—mostly by encouraging occasional voters to go to the polls. However, those same mobilization efforts would not substantially affect the turnout of chronic nonvoters.

Bias in the News: Partisanship and Negativity in Media Coverage of Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton

Support is surfacing in the popular media, and in some cases the scholarly press, for allegations that the medias perspective is tinted by partisanship and negativity. Despite great attention to these matters, analyses subjecting these claims to objective testing, using meaningful baselines with which to compare coverage, have been lacking. By studying coverage of unemployment, an issue for which outcomes are known and quantified, this research offers comparisons of coverage when presidents of both parties have produced the same results and when the unemployment rate has fallen or risen by a comparable margin. The results, utilizing a fair baseline from which to evaluate media coverage, provide no evidence of any meaningful partisan bias while offering strong evidence that the media cover bad outcomes far more than good.

Bolstering an Illusory Majority: The Effects of the Media's Portrayal of Death Penalty Support

Objective. Researchers have found a distinct difference between expressed supportfor the death penalty (which garners a majority of Americans) and expressed preference for the death penalty over other sentences (which attracts only a minority). Despite the strength of this finding in academic circles, the media tend to cover the death penalty as if it were indisputably favored by a majority of Americans. This article tests the effect of this disparity in coverage. Methods. Using an experimental design, respondents were placed in three groups: Condition 1 read a typical media portrayal depicting widespread support for the death penalty, Condition 2 read a realistic portrayal of the mix of preferences for the death penalty and an alternative sentence, and Condition 3 (the control group) read an article unrelated to the death penalty. Results. Compared to the control group and Condition 1, those who read a more realistic account of public opinion on the death penalty (Condition 2) were less supportive of capital punishment, more likely to think death penalty opponents would talk comfortably about their position, and believed the death penalty would become less prevalent in the future. Conclusions. These findings suggest that the unrealistic media portrayal of public opinion on the death penalty is bolstering a sense of inevitability about the issue.

The Mobilization Calendar The Time-Dependent Effects of Personal Contact on Turnout

Recent studies hold out political mobilization as the possible solution to low and declining voter turnout. This research explores the effects of face-to-face mobilization efforts that, in the course of 7 months, reached more than 4,500 registered voters in a Florida State House primary race. Controlling for their past voting history, the mobilization effort did increase turnout by about 10% of the electorate. However, the effects were dependent on the timing of the contact, as more distant efforts to mobilize had a much weaker effect on turnout. The combination of distant contact aimed at an infrequent voter was especially ineffective in improving turnout. The results suggest that implementing more face-to-face mobilization efforts would increase turnout but that the window of opportunity for such efforts is limited.

Race, Quarterbacks, and the Media Testing the Rush Limbaugh Hypothesis

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh made headlines in 2003 when he appeared on a cable sports program and claimed the media were biased in favor of African American quarterbacks. Using a sample made up of the seven African American starting quarterbacks in the National Football League matched with seven White quarterbacks with comparable statistics, this study considers whether newspaper coverage was slanted by race. The data, including more than 10,000 articles published during the 2002 football season, show minor and inconsistent differences in coverage between African American and White quarterbacks and offer no support to Limbaughs position. Despite themedias apparent lack of bias in this situation, response to Limbaughs comments in the media avoided the larger issue of race and instead focused on the playing ability of African American quarterbacks.

Stereotypes in the News: Media Coverage of African-Americans in Congress

According to previous studies, African-American political leaders are often cast by the media as being both narrowly focused on matters of race and less influential than their white counterparts in the legislative process. This article explores the degree to which the press offices of African-American members of Congress perceive this to be the case and the degree to which African-American representatives contribute to this pattern of coverage. Interviews with congressional press secretaries reveal that they do find the media to be less fair in their treatment of African-American members and that they do believe African-American members are subject to pervasive stereotyping. Contrary to the medias depiction, however, the press secretaries, as well as an analysis of congressional Web sites, reveal that African-American members portray themselves and seek to be portrayed as having diverse interests and significant influence in Washington. Thus it appears that the media, rather than the members, are primarily responsible for the stereotyped coverage of African-Americans in Congress.

The Other Side of Optimism: High Expectations and the Rejection of Status Quo Politics

Why are options that suggest a rejection of status quo politics popular today? This study suggests that an overlooked and important source of disappointment in government is the unrealistically optimistic expectations many Americans hold. At the surface it seems almost paradoxical: Americans generally tend to be quite optimistic, while at the same time they are negative and cynical about politics. This research suggests that because strong optimists have such high expectations, they react to political disappointments much more negatively than do those who have more modest expectations, thus reducing trust in government and belief in the system. The disappointed optimist seeks remedies for their disappointment, and in so doing, embraces the political unknown, whether embodied in an inexperienced, ideologically vague political leader such as Colin Powell, a third political party, or the mystery men and women who would be called into service after term limits remove incumbents from office.