30-Second Politics: Political Advertising in the Eighties

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Advertising overwhelms news coverage. That is the essence of the point Montague Kern drives home repeatedly throughout her insightful examination of political advertising in the eighties. . . . Any professional interested in political advertising would profit from reading this book. It also would be useful to an undergraduate class on political communication or advertising. Journal of Communication Kern's work joins a spate of books published in the 1980s on the nature, production, effect, and importance of televised political advertising in US elections. Not, however, old wine in a new bottle, it makes a distinct contribution in three respects. First, other works typically focus on spot advertising in only one type of electoral contest, primarily presidential, senatorial, or gubernatorial; Kern examines political ads at all electoral levels, in representative regions, and in a variety of mass media markets. Second, Kern employs multiple data gathering techniques beyond conventional content analysis of ads or surveys of voters' responses--interviews, a Delphic panel, and selected semiotic approaches. Finally, the book addresses changes in the character and impact of televised political spots since the 1970s, arguing that documentary news styles in ads have been replaced by those of commercial strategy of `touching someone.' Choice In this age of the media campaign where television is Americans' preferred source of candidate information, Montague Kern offers insightful scrutiny of political advertisements from 1972 to the present. This book closely examines a sample of ads and news coverage in the last stage of the 1984 presidential election, and in senatorial, gubernatorial, and house elections in four geographically diverse markets. Kern interviews campaign consultants as well as campaign managers and outlines the significant changes in political advertising over the past two decades. She finds, on the basis of an ad sample, that most competitive senatorial and gubernatorial races in 1986 used negative advertising. The book goes on to explain the rise of negative advertising in the presidential race of 1988. In an era in which media consultants are increasingly assuming primary responsibility for press relations, the study demonstrates that ads can overwhelm news coverage and serve many purposes in addition to providing voters with campaign information. The informed general reader seeking a better understanding of the political advertisement phenomenon, journalists who cover political campaigns, as well as scholars in communications and political science, will find 30-Second Politics invaluable reading.

Reviews

." . . an impressive volume of data and considerable analysis brought to bear on it. Kern has done an excellent job of integrating content analysis data with interview material."-Lynda Lee Kaid Professor of Communication The University of Oklahoma
"Montague Kern generates light rather than heat in her thoughtful analysis of the theory and practice of recent political advertising. Anyone who wants to understand where we have been--and where we are headed--in this volatile field, will benefit from her work."-Larry Sabato Professor of Political Science University of Virginia, Charlottesville
"Evidently the old political saw, he who slings dirt only loses ground, ' has become passe, says Kern in this monumental work examining how media affects the American electoral process. Kern [mass media/politics, American University, Washington, D.C.] traces the change from 1972 ads which simulated news broadcasts and eschewed the negative as counterproductive, to 30-second spots aimed at eliciting emotional bonding with one candidate and/or aversion for his/her opponent. Kern's work is rich with analytical thinking based upon content analysis of ads from local, state, and national elections and focuses especially on races in California, Georgia, Indiana, and North Carolina. She also notes the relationship between the campaign strategy of the ads and the efforts to get those themes to be a basis for coverage in newscasts. This deserves broad readership and the kind of high praise given to Larry J. Sabato's The Rise of Political Consultants."-Library Journal
. . . The findings in 30-Second Politics are well written and documented. The author masterfully integrates content analysis data with interview material and raises serious future research issues. Students of political science, mass communication, and advertising will find this book helpful in understanding the changes in political advertising in the 1980s.-Journalism Quarterly
Advertising overwhelms news coverage. That is the essence of the point Montague Kern drives home repeatedly throughout her insightful examination of political advertising in the eighties.... Any professional interested in political advertising would profit from reading this book. It also would be useful to an undergraduate class on political communication or advertising.-Journal of Communication
Evidently the old political saw, he who slings dirt only loses ground, ' has become passe, says Kern in this monumental work examining how media affects the American electoral process. Kern [mass media/politics, American University, Washington, D.C.] traces the change from 1972 ads which simulated news broadcasts and eschewed the negative as counterproductive, to 30-second spots aimed at eliciting emotional bonding with one candidate and/or aversion for his/her opponent. Kern's work is rich with analytical thinking based upon content analysis of ads from local, state, and national elections and focuses especially on races in California, Georgia, Indiana, and North Carolina. She also notes the relationship between the campaign strategy of the ads and the efforts to get those themes to be a basis for coverage in newscasts. This deserves broad readership and the kind of high praise given to Larry J. Sabato's The Rise of Political Consultants.-Library Journal
Kern's work joins a spate of books published in the 1980s on the nature, production, effects, and importance of televised political advertising in US elections. Not, however, old wine in a new bottle, it makes a distinct contribution in three respects. First, other works typically focus on spot advertising in only one type of electoral contest, primarily presidential, senatorial, or gubernatorial; Kern examines political ads at all electoral levels, in representative regions, and in a variety of mass media markets. Second, Kern employs multiple data gathering techniques beyond conventional content analysis of ads or surveys of voters' responses--interviews, a Delphic panel, and selected semiotic approaches. Finally, the book addresses changes in the character and impact of televised political spots since the 1970s, arguing that documentary news styles in ads have been replaced by those of the commercial strategy of touching someone.' In separate chapters the author thoroughly discusses evolving approaches to campaign consulting, the issue content of TV ads versus TV news, emotional appeals in spot ads, negative advertising, and the effects of variations in regional political cultures on advertising. A short bibliography identifies the most significant works that reflect the burgeoning scholarly interest in televised political advertising. General readers, upper-division undergraduates, and above.-Choice
This a sobering book. Many, if not most Americans obtain much of their information about political candidates from television, Ms. Kern points out. Therefore, she offers an analysis of political advertising from 1972 to the present. She examines a sample of ads and news coverage-including those now-famous sound bites-from the 1984 presidential campaign, as well as ads and news coverage in selected gubernatorial, senatorial, and house election campaigns. Finally she evaluates the effectiveness of political advertising and suggests the direction in which such advertising is heading. This is a solid, objective study that cuts throught the myths and misinformation so prevalent about the power and effectiveness of political advertising. Ms. Kern's conclusions are sobering, and are worth the study and consideration of anyone who cares about the role of political advertising in the way we elect people to office in this country-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak
This thoroughly researched and well written volume deals with the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaign advertising. . . . The most important trends about which Professor Kern writes are the dominant role taken in campaigns by both negative advertising and emotionally based feel good' advertising (as well as its negative counterparts). In campaign advertising in the 1980s, Professor Kern finds three major camps of philosophy about political advertising. She states (p. 24): The emotional school resembled commercial advertising most clearly and relied most heavily on visual and aural affects. The new informational school relied heavily on such techniques, while viewing itself as more language based, in the sense of devoting more attention to clarifying candidate issue positions. The quick response school was the least oriented to entertainment techniques and high-quality visuals and took particular advantage of a factual' format that drew heavily on news. . . .'-Presidential Studies Quarterly
." . . The findings in 30-Second Politics are well written and documented. The author masterfully integrates content analysis data with interview material and raises serious future research issues. Students of political science, mass communication, and advertising will find this book helpful in understanding the changes in political advertising in the 1980s."-Journalism Quarterly
"Advertising overwhelms news coverage. That is the essence of the point Montague Kern drives home repeatedly throughout her insightful examination of political advertising in the eighties.... Any professional interested in political advertising would profit from reading this book. It also would be useful to an undergraduate class on political communication or advertising."-Journal of Communication
"This a sobering book. Many, if not most Americans obtain much of their information about political candidates from television, Ms. Kern points out. Therefore, she offers an analysis of political advertising from 1972 to the present. She examines a sample of ads and news coverage-including those now-famous sound bites-from the 1984 presidential campaign, as well as ads and news coverage in selected gubernatorial, senatorial, and house election campaigns. Finally she evaluates the effectiveness of political advertising and suggests the direction in which such advertising is heading. This is a solid, objective study that cuts throught the myths and misinformation so prevalent about the power and effectiveness of political advertising. Ms. Kern's conclusions are sobering, and are worth the study and consideration of anyone who cares about the role of political advertising in the way we elect people to office in this country"-Quarterly Review of Doublespeak
"This thoroughly researched and well written volume deals with the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaign advertising. . . . The most important trends about which Professor Kern writes are the dominant role taken in campaigns by both negative advertising and emotionally based feel good' advertising (as well as its negative counterparts). In campaign advertising in the 1980s, Professor Kern finds three major camps of philosophy about political advertising. She states (p. 24): The emotional school resembled commercial advertising most clearly and relied most heavily on visual and aural affects. The new informational school relied heavily on such techniques, while viewing itself as more language based, in the sense of devoting more attention to clarifying candidate issue positions. The quick response school was the least oriented to entertainment techniques and high-quality visuals and took particular advantage of a factual' format that drew heavily on news. . . .'"-Presidential Studies Quarterly
"Kern's work joins a spate of books published in the 1980s on the nature, production, effects, and importance of televised political advertising in US elections. Not, however, old wine in a new bottle, it makes a distinct contribution in three respects. First, other works typically focus on spot advertising in only one type of electoral contest, primarily presidential, senatorial, or gubernatorial; Kern examines political ads at all electoral levels, in repr

Author Bio

MONTAGUE KERN is Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at Rutgers University. She is co-author of The Kennedy Crises: The Press, The Presidency and Foreign Policy.