The 2022 midterms marked a transformative moment in American politics, as the combined influence of legacy media and social platforms reached new heights. Traditional outlets like television news and print journalism set the stage, while a vast digital ecosystem—spanning Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and more—enabled campaigns to amplify messages on issues like abortion rights, the economy, and immigration. As these platforms shaped the voter experience in a fragmented and often- polarized me...

Social media and social networking services are integrated into the American political process and have profoundly influenced political communication and participation. Social media platforms have transformed the political landscape by revolutionizing information dissemination, citizen engagement, and public opinion formation and change. Politicians use social media to communicate directly with voters in an unmediated and unfiltered manner. Comparatively, voters use social media to follow ...

The 2020 United States presidential election was a pivotal moment, marked by a global pandemic, economic turmoil, and civil unrest. Amid these challenges, citizen engagement surged, driving record media ratings and the highest voter turnout since 1900. This book examines how these events reshaped political communication and the impact of social and cultural divides on the electoral process. Through an analysis of digital and social media's role in political discourse, the book explores how...

This diverse and unique collection of essays examines a wide range of communication elements and themes in the context of the 2012 election. Topics include the early campaign and Romney’s nomination battle, candidate image, the rhetoric and campaigning of Michelle Obama and Ann Romney, issues of race, persuasive appeals to voters, the use of music and social media, and Obama’s second inaugural address. Studies of Communication in the 2012 Presidential Campaign aims not only to expand the c...

Much has been made of the speed and constancy of modern politics. Whether watching cable news, retweeting political posts, or receiving news alerts on our phones, political communication now happens continuously and in real time. Traditional research methods often do not capture this dynamic environment. Early studies that guided the study of political communication took place at a time when transistors and FM radio, television, and widely distributed films technologically changed the way ...

The media have long played an important role in the modern political process and the 2016 presidential campaign was no different. From Trump’s tweets and cable-show-call-ins to Sander’s social media machine to Clinton’s "Trump Yourself" app and podcast, journalism, social and digital media, and entertainment media were front-and-center in 2016. Clearly, political media played a dominant and disruptive role in our democratic process. This book helps to explain the role of these media and co...

Media events are a central communication tactic used by political communicators in political campaigns and in governmental affairs. Each president has an advance staff that creates mediagenic events to influence the news media, generate coverage and excitement, construct favorable political images, and persuade voters. Advance men and women are visual speechwriters who focus not only on what the politician says, but also on how the candidate looks and the visual message communicated by the...

"Playing into the hands of neither the cyber-optimists nor the cyber-pessimists . . . this book makes a major contribution to our understanding." —Talia Stroud, author of Niche News: The Politics of News ChoiceThe beauty of democracy is not only that citizens can vote a candidate into office but that they can also vote one out. As digital media has grown omnipresent, it becomes more important for political scientists and communication scholars to understand...

Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2016From the presidential race to the battle for the office of New York City mayor, American political candidates’ approach to new media strategy is increasingly what makes or breaks their campaign. Targeted outreach on Facebook and Twitter, placement of a well-timed viral ad, and the ability to roll with the memes, flame wars, and downvotes that might spring from ordinary citizens’ engagement with the issues—these skills are he...

C-SPAN is the network of record for US political affairs, broadcasting live gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and to other forums where public policy is discussed, debated, and decided––without editing, commentary, or analysis and with a balanced presentation of points of view.C-SPAN Video Library, adjacent to Purdue University, archives copies of all broadcast content, including policymaking proceedings, events, discussion, and debate, aire...

Still today, the unequal and gendered distribution of power and participation in American politics remains perplexing. To address this challenge, Banwart and Bystrom examine the research from political communication, political science, and psychology to deepen our understanding of the intersection of gender and politics.Starting with the most common theoretical approaches, they trace the history of women’s right to vote in the U.S., women’s political participation, the political so...

It has been estimated that more than three million political ads were televised leading up to the elections of 2004. More than $800,000,000 was spent on TV ads in the race for the White House alone and presidential candidates, along with their party and interest group allies, broadcast over a million ads -- more than twice the number aired before the 2000 elections. What were the consequences of this barrage of advertising?Were viewers turned off by political advertising to the ext...