Robert Rudd

Issues as Image in Political Campaign Commercials

This paper examines the use of “issue” commercials as a means of developing a candidates image in a political campaign. The study was conducted through a participant‐observation of the 1982 gubernatorial campaign of Republican Phil Batt of Idaho. During the general election campaign the Batt organization employed a series of six “issue” commercials‐television spots which addressed specific policy issues‐in an attempt to build a positive public image for the candidate in three areas: basic human and social values, personality, and leadership. The campaign also sought to erode the popular public image of the incumbent with those same issue messages. This paper focuses on the verbal and visual messages used in those commercials and how those elements were used to achieve the campaigns image building goals. The paper concludes with a discussion of the political circumstances underlying the use of image‐oriented campaigns and the implications of the issues‐as‐image strategy for the democratic process.

Depth of issue coverage in television news: Campaign ‘84

A study of issue coverage in the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and PBS during the final two weeks of the 1984 Presidential campaign revealed that the four commercial networks tended to frame their issue coverage in a confrontational style, presenting the image of a conflict about the issues by the candidates. However, these stories often failed to identify the positions of the candidates or to give reasons why the candidates supported a particular position. PBS tended to frame its coverage in a confrontational format, but identified and explained candidate issue positions.

Effects of Issue Specificity, Ambiguity on Evaluations of Candidate Image

,The important role of the mass media in contemporary American politics has been reflected in a number of recent research studies. Political and communication scholars have provided increasing evidence that the media have a considerable effect on the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of voters during election campaigns.’ Indeed, as Thomas Patterson has noted, “today’s presidential campaign is essentially a mass media campaign.” * An increasingly important element of contemporary campaigns is the use of political advertising. Patterson’ has estimated that up to 75% of the budget in major campaigns is dedicated to the production of, and purchase of time for, electronic advertising. In 1984. nearly half of all campaign costs for the Republicans and Democrats after the nominating conventions went for radio and television expenses: Demonstrated effects of politi-

Don't bet on it... The representation of gambling in baseball cinema

This paper examines the role of baseball films in the games ideological war on gambling. While the central purpose behind baseballs strict prohibitions against gambling by players has been to protect the economic interests of team owners, the issue of gambling has been consistently presented in the games cultural ideology as a moral issue, rather than an economic one. This process serves as a means of disciplining the baseball worker, and as a means of enhancing the games appeal to middle‐class audiences. Baseball films have been an important site of the construction of this ideology, consistently portraying gambling as a moral transgression against the national pastime.