The Spot: Rise of Political Advertising on Television - Hardcover

Diamond, Edwin; Bates, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262040751 ISBN 13: 9780262040754

Publisher: MIT Press, 1984

Synopsis

Political advertising on television represents a form of persuasion scarcely thirty years old. Already, however, the short thirty-to-sixty-second political commercial, or polispot, has developed both distinct rhetorical modes and distinct visual styles. The polispot has also grown to dominate political campaigns in this country, especially in the large states and in national presidential elections. For example, of the $29 million in federally allotted campaign funds spent by Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter in 1980, fully half went into political advertising, mainly on television.

The Spot is a rich, provocative examination of the polispot form. It begins with the first spot use of television in the Eisenhower-Stevenson campaign of 1952 and carries through to the Reagan advertising and marketing campaign of 1980 (and, prospectively, of 1984). It discusses such famous—and infamous—examples of political television advertising as Richard Nixon's "Checkers," Lyndon Johnson's "Daisy" spot, and Gerald Ford's "Feelin' Good About America" series.

The book contains interviews of the chief media practitioners and political marketers and analyzes the effects of their handiwork on the outcome of campaigns. Scores of storyboards and illustrations from key campaigns are also analyzed, each according to the authors' pioneering typology of the five polispot rhetorical modes.

About this title

Review

" "The Spot" will go a long way toward helping the reader understand the televised political advertising that's about to swamp us." -- Washington Post

& quot; The Spot will go a long way toward helping the reader understand the televised political advertising that's about to swamp us.& quot; -- Washington Post

""The Spot" will go a long way toward helping the reader understand the televised political advertising that's about to swamp us." --Washington Post

About the Author

Edwin Diamond was Professor of Journalism at New York University, where he directed the News Study Group, and was media columnist for New York magazine.

Edition details

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262040751
• ISBN 13: 9780262040754
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 220