James Glen Stovall

Coverage of 1984 Presidential Campaign

.The 1980 presidential election campaign presented journalists with a variety of interesting circumstances: a weakened president fighting for political survival and leading a torn and reluctant party; a foreign policy crisis the kidnapping of American embassy personnel in Iran that overshadowed the entire political scene; and a third party effort that threatened to deny both major parties a majority of the vote. The 1984 presidential election campaign was notable, in contrast, for what it lacked rather than what it had. No overriding foreign policy or domestic issue dominated the parties or candidates. No bitter divisions broke out within the parties. No third party candidates emerged. Instead, a highly popular president was running, and the main feature of the campaign was the certainty of his reelection. His opponent was a solid, traditional candidate of the traditional wing of his party, and he failed utterly to generate the enthusiasm necessary to overcome his opponents popularity. The 1984 campaign did give American politics one new thing the first female nominee of either major party. The candi-

The Third-Party Challenge of 1980: News Coverage of the Presidential Candidates

,Third-party presidential candidacies pose numerous challenges for journalists charged with covering election campaigns. The system developed by America for electing presidents is not readily amenable to third party efforts, and journalists, as well as politicians, find third parties a source of problems at various stages. When a major third-party effort begins, journalists must weigh the effects of coverage or non-coverage on the third-party candidacy. Journalists must ask themselves how much coverage a third-party candidate warrants. They must also deal with the double-edged dilemma that if they cover a third-party candidate too much, they will be accused of “creating” his or her candidacy, and if they tend to ignore a third-party candidate, they will be accused of killing a third party’s efforts before the voters have a chance to decide. Once a major third-party candidacy has established itself in a general election campaign, journalists must decide what kind of coverage that candidacy is to receive compared to the coverage given to the major-party candidates. Will the thirdparty candidates get more, equal or less coverage than the Republican or Demo-

The Conservative South

The idea that the South is a conservative area is one of the fixtures on the American political landscape. Questions remain, however, whether the picture of the conservative South provides a complete depiction of mass politics in that region. Public opinion data are examined in this study to determine whether the South is actually a conservative area. The results of the analysis suggest that it is inaccurate to conclude unqualifiably that the South is a conservative region.

Is One as Good as Another? The Relative Influence of Pre-election Surveys on Voter Behavior.

Election surveys, expert opinions and man-in-the-street interviews all have about the same amount of impact on candidate preference.

Active and Passive Indicators of Public Opinion: Assessing the Call-in Poll

This study of call-in poll participants indicates that although such participants are generally similar - in socio-demographics - to the population as a whole, they are more opinionated than are telephone survey respondents. The study confirms that call-in polls and surveys of the population do not necessarily produce similar information concerning public opinion and that decision makers need to be sensitive to the intensity of opinion held by voters.