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427 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1976)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0427 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE

While politics is a necessary game in a democracy and one that in-
volves its entire citizenry in one way or another, in our mega-society
many must play it vicariously. For most of its participants it also is a
spectator sport, courtesy of the mass media.
Because mass education and the mass media have greatly increased
the number of involved citizens, both news media reporters and candi-
dates are finding that their roles have been undergoing a radical change
in recent times. For one thing, the election process itself is a much
longer one today than in the past, and a growing host of candidates
pass in review before the electorate starting well before the election
year. Carl Leubsdorf of the Baltimore Sun describes the changing
pattern, as the campaign heats up, of the relationships between the candi-
dates and their constant companions of the press. From the point of
view of the candidate for local office, the press, according to Boston
Mayor Kevin White's former aide, David Rosenbloom, wields great
power in its ability to control the candidate's access to the people.
It was television that changed the political scene more than anything
else in the past quarter century, although Sig Mickelson, who headed
CBS News at the time of the Kennedy-Nixon debates-a landmark in
political campaigning-believes that its influence is exaggerated.
Changes, he says, are probably the product of the total environment
rather than of the picture tube. But journalism historian Edwin Emery
points out that while the mass media cannot have a massive effect on
voter decision-making, the few votes they do influence often are crucial
in a campaign. In my own article, I discuss recent communication theory
which gives the press full credit for keeping people informed, while
minimizing its role as a persuader.
One of the most important changes in political campaigning is the
universal use of professional image makers and pollsters. Voters have
come to expect stylistic qualities of their candidates, says political
communication specialist Dan Nimmo. This is not a time for amateurs,
and one of the most important professional touches is the tremendous
amount of research and public opinion polling that goes into a political
campaign, as described by pollster Albert H. Cantril. All this naturally
costs money-what it costs and how this money is spent is known
best to such successful campaign managers as Joseph Napolitan, who dis-
cusses the effective use of the media in national and local political cam-
paigns.
The relationship between the president as a politician and the press
is an especially interesting aspect of the role of the mass media in
American politics today. Political scientist Elmer Cornwell analyzes the
various phases of this relationship, which has its ups and downs
during a presidential term of office. President Lyndon Johnson's former
vii

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