This first comparative study of the political communication processes in the United States and France brings together researchers from both countries to examine differences and similarities between the media's involvement in each nation's 1988 presidential election campaign. The book analyzes the construction of mediated political reality in the two countries, and concludes that French media do not concentrate more on policy issues than do American media. The authors discuss television news and newsmagazine coverage of the overall campaigns and their particular political debates, television commercials and broadcasts, and political posters. Also assessed are the interactions between party/candidate presentations of political reality and voter interpretations of that reality. The contributions are grouped into four sections: Comparing Politics in Two Cultures, which includes discussions of constructing a political communication project and the theoretical dimensions of the studies; Mediated Campaign Messages, which contains analyses of reality construction, political advertising, and political broadcasts; Media Coverage of the Campaigns; and Implications of Mediated Campaigning, which covers the effects of television broadcasts on voter perception and possibilities for improving the electoral process. This work is a useful resource for students, scholars, and politicians interested in political communication and comparative politics, as well as for journalists and members of the media.

Since 1952, when Eisenhower's media consultants decided they could warm up the General's personality and overcome selective exposure by using short spots on television, advertising has played a major role in American presidential campaigns. By the late 1990s, candidates and their political parties spend hundreds of millions on TV ads. Political spots have become the dominant form of communication between voters and candidates.

Kaid and Johnston report the results of a systematic and thorough analysis of virtually all of the political commercials used in general election campaigns from 1952 through the 1996 presidential contest. Important to scholars, students, and other researchers involved with political communications, mass communications, and presidential elections.

This timely volume is an engaging look at presidential candidate images, featuring a wide range of essays that dissect how these images are formed and manipulated during campaigns. As more and more emphasis is placed on a candidates persona and how it affects our voting decisions, Kenneth Hackers book provides a variety of frameworks and cases for analyzing candidate images in past, current, and future elections.

This timely volume is an engaging look at presidential candidate images, featuring a wide range of essays that dissect how these images are formed and manipulated during campaigns. As more and more emphasis is placed on a candidates persona and how it affects our voting decisions, Kenneth Hackers book provides a variety of frameworks and cases for analyzing candidate images in past, current, and future elections.