the media april 25, 2013. opportunities to discuss course content today 11-2 monday 10-2
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The Media
April 25, 2013
Opportunities to discuss course content
• Today 11-2
• Monday 10-2
Learning Objectives• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of how
presidential and congressional elections are financed.
• Identify and describe the formal and informal institutions involved in the electoral process
Readings
• Chapter 7: Political Communication and the Mass Media (Flanigan)
Horse Race Coverage
• What is it?
• What does it contain
• Why?
Following The Polls
The keys to horse race coverage
• Polling
• Perception
• No issues
Horse Race Dominated the Primaries
HORSE RACE COVERAGE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTION
Component I: Categorizer
• Sorts the candidates into winners and losers
• Creates an Image for the candidate
• Romney
• Obama
Component II: Expectation Setter
• Puts odds on the candidates
• You want to be at the top… duh
• But it isn't as good as you might think
Component III: Mentioner
• You want the media to notice you
• Not all press is good press
• Mentions mean money and votes
Component IV:Winnowing
• The Press Winnows (narrows) down the candidates
• Attention is on Iowa and NH
• Frontloading is the results
Winnowing In 2012
DEBATES
Presidential Debates
• A Recent Phenomenon
• General Strategies
• Do not screw up
Why Candidates Like these
• A chance for exposure
• A chance for Legitimacy
• A chance to move in the polls
Presidential Debates
• Who Wins (the leader in the polls)
• The Person who doesn’t make a mistake
• Does it matter?
Presidential Debates
• Win by not losing
• What don't you want to do? – The 1960 Debate– Seem heartless– You are no Jack Kennedy– Eastern Europe is Free– Adm. James Stockdale
• Blind , Deaf, Dumb
Impact of the First Debate on Coverage
THE GENERAL ELECTION
2012 vs 2008
Less Horse Race than 2008
Obligatory Chad Long Dig
Negative Coverage Dominates
Horse Race Coverage Favors Frontrunners
The Media Missed Palin
THE MEDIA STRATEGY
The Media Strategy
• Getting the Message Out– Paid Advertisements
– Free Press
• You campaign for votes and you campaign for media by getting free coverage
• Avoid cannibalizing
Getting Free Press
• Having your message get covered by the media
• You can reach a wide audience and It is not costing you money
• This is fully mediated
Obama Gets More Coverage (President + Candidate)
Maximizing Free Coverage
• Create a package
• Convey a winning message
• Shape an Image
Maximizing Free Coverage
• Don’t Say too Much
• Repeat the Few Basic Points
• Bad Press is Bad Press
Ask Herman Cain about Bad news
PAID MEDIA IN 2012
Paid Media
• Unmediated
• Control the Message
• More outlets than ever
A Record Breaking Year
• 1 million ads were aired
• Both Sides were overwhelmingly negative
• Obama Spent more and Ran More Ads
• The Best Ads
Herman Cain Bizarre Ads
• The Rabbit
• Smoking
Targeting Ads and their Effect
• Uncommitted voters vs Partisans
• When are they Most Effective?
• Ads are a sign of political viability
Candidate Credibility
• We have to trust the messenger
• Issue Ownership
• Try to focus on your best issue
Getting More Votes
• Delivering a positive message about your candidate (mobilizing)
• Deliver a negative message about the opposition (mobilizing/demobilizing)
Biographical Ads
• Inform us about the Candidate
• Very important early in the campaign
• Obama doesn’t need to run these….
Issue Ads
• Focus on a specific issue or a policy area
• Associate yourself with favorable policies
• Do not mention issue weakness
Examples of Issue Ads
• The Bear in the Woods in 1984
• Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris...
• Hillary Clinton- Attack/Issue Ad
Attack Ads
• The Norm Rather than the Exception
• The Mother of all Attack Ads
The Effect of Attack ads on voters
• Some voters become disenchanted and disaffected
• Your Base Loves them!
How Effective are these
• If they didn’t work, candidates wouldn’t run them
• The Lessons of 1988– The Revolving Door
– Willie Horton
Why They Work and Who uses them more
• We don’t trust politicians
• They are more memorable and informative
• Challengers and vulnerable incumbents use them
How To Deal with them
• Defend the Charges
• Counterattack on the same issue or up the ante- The Puppy Ad
• Attack the Credibility of your opponent
How not to deal with them
• Do Nothing
• If you get Punched in the nose, you must punch back
How the attack can backfire
• If you are seen as being too evil
Ads Can Backfire
• You do it too late to make a difference
• You bring a knife to a gun fight
The New Media
• Innovative in 2008
• Candidates had a lot to like
• They didn’t like the anarchy
Social Media in 2012
• No new Innovations
• Obama Retains the social media advantage
• More Control
• More negative
You have No Friends on Social Media
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