AC640 Campaign 640 Week 2: Political Communication in the Real World Political Debates, TV Ads, and

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AC640 -- Campaign 640Week 2 Political
Communication in the Real WorldPolitical
Debates, TV Ads, and Political Blogs
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(1) political communication and the 2006 federal
election the final two weeks of the campaign

• in these last two weeks of the Canadian federal
  election (Canadians vote on Tuesday January 23),
  we have a unique opportunity to study political
  communication at its most intense and
  sophisticated
• the post-holiday break period is the most vital
  for all five major federal parties (including the
  Greens here), and thus the formal and informal
  means of political communication devoted to the
  election
• in this weeks campaign 640, we focus on three
  media forms with their separate histories and
  contributions to informing how Canadians vote
  televised debates, TV political ads, and
  political blogs
• the latest poll (Jan. 6) indicate a slight lead
  for the Conservative Party
• 35Conservative Party
• 32Liberal Party
• 17NDP
• 10Bloc Quebecois
• 6Green

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(2) a brief history of political communication in
North America

• 19th century political communication was
  naturally the domain of newspapers
• 19th century North American newspapers were
  openly partisan in a way that is not typical of
  major daily newspapers today, and featured
  cartoons that were colourful and candid
• radio ads were first used in Canada during the
  1935 election between Bennett and Mackenzie King
• first political television ad in U.S. for
  Eisenhower in 1952
• first televised debate in U.S. between Nixon and
  Kennedy in 1960
• first televised debate involving federal
  leadership candidates in Canada in 1968 (Trudeau,
  Douglas, Stanfield, Caouette)
• first political blogs appear in mid-1990s

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(3) early Canadian political cartoon

• Liberal Alexander Mackenzie on left
  Conservative PM John A. McDonald on right
• Caption reads
• "I admit I took the money and bribed the
  electors with it. Is there anything wrong about
  that?"
• a cartoon, published in Grip magazine in 1873,
  takes aim at Macdonald for having taken bribes
  from a businessman building the Canadian Pacific
  Railway

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(4) questions to ask when evaluating political
ads

• Is it an attack ad or an affirming ad (attacking
  an opponent or supporting the candidate)
• What is the audience for which the ad is
  intended? How is the audience mirrored in the ad?
• Is the ad effective in communicating its point?
  Why or why not?
• Is the ad effective in persuading us to believe
  the message that is being sent? Why or why not?
• questions adapted from Guide to Analysis
  of Political Ads developed by Professor Wallace
  Schmidt at Rollins College, Florida

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(5) historical and contemporary televised
political ads

• Visit the excellent U.S. archive of political TV
  ads, Living Room Candidate site
• Examine those ads or themes that interest you
• David recommends (use search function) these
  three famous ads
• Daisy (most famous ad in U.S. history)
• Bear (famous Reagan era ad about Soviet Union)
• Revolving Door (the ad identifying Democratic
  candidate Michael Dukakis with murderer Willie
  Horton, and thought to inaugurate open negative
  advertising in U.S.)
• (4) View the following ads from the three
  major federal parties linked through the Globe
  and Mails Decision 2006 site (see ad links at
  bottom right) site
• Entitlements (Conservative Party)
• One Leader (Liberal Party)
• Gift (NDP)

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(6) analysis use Schmidts questions to evaluate
the ads

• draw on Schmidts questions in previous slide,
  and evaluate your choice of ad
• consider what makes some ads effective, and what
  makes others not
• photo on left is a still image taken from
  infamous 1993 Conservative attack political ad
  featuring then PM Chretiens speech impediment,
  and asking viewers would you vote for this man?
• Canadian Senator Keith Davey said of negative
  ads "If the other guy says, 'You're fat,' don't
  say, 'I'm not,'" Say, 'You're ugly.'"

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(7) the final English language debate of the 2006
federal election

• the final English debate of the 2006 campaign is
  this Monday night, January 9, from 8-10 EST (5-7
  PST) on CBC
• if you can and want to, please watch the debate
• David will be online on the Campaign 640
  discussion space in a thread devoted to the
  debate immediately after the debate, and built on
  the questions in the following slide
• the debate is also to be live-streamed on cbc.ca

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(8) questions relating to Mondays debate (5-7
PST, CBC)

• First impressions?
• Was there a clear winner or loser? Was there a
  knockout line or comeback? What are the
  consequences of expecting a winner and a knockout
  for how we value such debates?
• Were any of the candidates trying to project a
  particular personality? Aggressive? A defender of
  Canada? Pragmatic (as opposed to being an
  ideologue)? Statesmanlike and prime ministerial?
• Did the debate help you decide who to vote for?
  Not vote for?
• What role do such debates have? Are they
  effective in offering information to the public?

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(9) Peter Mansbridge on debates and whether they
matter

• the CBC anchor Mansbridge argues that the
  received wisdom is that debates represent turning
  points in election campaigns
• Mansbridge argues otherwise, and suggests that
  politicians are too well-trained and rehearsed to
  address the public honestly and substantially
• But in the end, it's likely not formats,
  locations or audio technology that determine
  whether a debate is worthwhile -- it's the
  willingness of the party leaders to honestly
  explain and defend their positions and their
  policies.
• Mansbridge, Macleans Magazine, Dec. 13, 2005
• article here

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(10) Do debates and TV ads miss the young voter?

• ...see how they run. I'm talking about
  Martin, Harper and Layton, of course. The
  blindness to which I refer is their collective
  ignoring of a large, nominally disaffected
  constituency who are relatively removed from the
  broadcast media (i.e., few-to-many media,
  including television and the press) in which the
  current election campaign is primarily being run.
  Among a very large demographic of people who
  don't watch television and don't read the
  mainstream press, relatively little of the major
  parties' respective political "messages" are
  getting through. And, for these people - largely
  voters up to the age of approximately 30, but
  definitely those between 18 and 25 - their lack
  of attendance on voting day is not so much a
  result of being apathetic, so much as a lack of
  connection with the process.
• Federmans blog (Dec. 15-05 entry)

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(11) blogs an alternative to political
communication in mass media

• blogs offer means by which people can bypass the
  mainstream media and the ideological consensus
  authors like Chomsky argue exists there
• blogs attract younger readers and voters
• blogs offer journalists, party workers, activists
  and insiders a means to communicate directly with
  the public
• bloggers now get official status with mass media
  at political conventions
• the blogosphere is now a source of ideas in
  mainstream media, and of influence on debates
• Canadian blogs directory below
• Canadian political blogs index

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(12) questions relating to blogs and the MSM

• Are blogs a means to circumvent the way that the
  mainstream media, be it through format or
  ideological filtering, tends to narrow the range
  of debate in society?
• Does the blogosphere aid in the greater
  democratization of the media culture? Or is just
  an opportunity for the pajamas media to vent
  their spleen before an audience?
• Are blogs and other online media a more likely
  means to reach younger voters?