News Media and Presidential Campaigns

Report Outline
Uneasy Alliance
Role of Debates
Election Coverage
Special Focus

Uneasy Alliance

Central Place of Media in Election Process

If president Ronald Reagan or Democratic presidential nominee Walter F. Mondale turns up at the airport in your town just long enough to make a short statement and shake a few hands, you might wonder why he even bothered. Such brief visits provide little time for the nominees to consult with local political leaders, speak to voters or raise campaign funds. But those are not the candidates' goals anyway. They are trying to draw the attention of news reporters and television cameras, through whom they will be able to reach as many people in a stopover visit as they would in a day full of campaign rallies.

This style of campaigning is symbolic of—and results from—the central role played by the mass media in the American presidential election process. “Newspapers, radio, newsweeklies, and television have become the major sources of information about election campaigns for most U.S. citizens,” Yale political scientist F. Christopher Arterton wrote. And as voters rely ever more heavily on news reports in making their political judgments, the influence of party workers and community opinion leaders has waned.

Presidential campaign strategy is predicated to a great degree on the reality of media politics. Both the Reagan and Mondale campaigns plan their candidates' schedules to maximize national and local news coverage. The incumbent Reagan has sought to appear “presidential”; activities that further his policy objectives play the dual role of providing pictures that send a powerful message through the media. Mondale pushed for six debates with Reagan and settled for two, knowing that these televised events have given earlier challengers an opportunity to appear worthy of the nation's highest office.