Over the Wire and on TV : CBS and UPI in Campaign '80

Robinson, Michael J. Sheehan, Margaret A.

ISBN 10: 0871547236 / ISBN 13: 9780871547231

Published by New York : Russell Sage Foundation, 1980

About this Item

Near fine paperback copy. Panel edges slightly dust-dulled as with age. Remains particularly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and sharp-cornered. ; 332 pages; Description: 332 p. ; 21 cm. Subjects: United States --Campaigns --Politics and government --Media. 1 Kg.

Seller Inventory # 18432

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Over the Wire and on TV : CBS and UPI in Campaign '80
• Publisher: New York : Russell Sage Foundation
• Publication Date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0871547236
• ISBN 13: 9780871547231
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Weight: 1 kilogram

About this title

Synopsis

First the press became the media, and now the media have become the Imperial Media—or have they? In this timely and comprehensive analysis, Michael Robinson and Margaret Sheehan examine how the news media behaved (or misbehaved) in covering the 1980 presidential campaign.

Using the media's own traditional standards as a guide, Robinson and Sheehan measure the level of objectivity, fairness, seriousness, and criticism displayed by CBS News and United Press International between January and December of 1980. Drawing on statistical analyses of almost 6,000 news stories and dozens of interviews with writers and reporters, the authors reach convincing and sometimes surprising conclusions. They demonstrate, for example, that both CBS and UPI strictly avoided subjective assessments of the candidates and their positions on the issues. Both gave the major parties remarkably equal access. But the media seem to give more negative coverage to front-runners, treating serious challengers less harshly. Perhaps the most surprising finding is that networks were not more superficial than print; CBS attended to the issues at least as often as UPI.

Robinson and Sheehan find television coverage more subjective, more volatile, and substantially more negative than traditional print. But CBS behaved neither imperially nor irresponsibly in Campaign '80. The networks did, however, emulate the more highly charged journalism of the eastern elite print press.

By blending the quantitative techniques of social science and the tools of Washington-based journalism, Robinson and Sheehan have produced a book that will be essential reading for students and practitioners of politics, public opinion research, journalism, and communications. Lively and readable, it should also appeal to anyone interested in the role of the news media in contemporary politics.

Synopsis

There are several things which this book is not. It is not a voter study. It is not a book about new people nor an investigation of the history, background or behaviour of the White House press corps. It does not pin-point the press winners and losers in the campaign of 1980 and, finally, it is not about the effect of broadcast technology on campaign strategy - or, at least, only tangentially. The authors have used the traditional standards of journalism - objectivity, fairness, seriousness and comprehensiveness - and have tried to measure how well network news (CBS) and the national wire (UPI) performed in covering the 1980 presidential campaign. Second they have attempted to show, qualitatively and quantitatively, how traditional print and contemporary network journalism compared and contrasted. Finally, they used their findings to speculate about politics under a new system of reporting and have tried to sort out the broader implications of moving from newspapers to networks as the principle medium for following elections and campaigns.