| This dissertation explores the patterns of news media coverage during the surfacing phase of presidential campaigns, identified by previous scholars as the preprimary and primary periods, in which media exert more influence than in later segments of the election. The theoretical prism through which the campaigns are viewed is framing, a practice in which journalists shape coverage by emphasizing one or more aspects of the political reality. The research also hangs its hat on the major elements of campaigns---organization, finance, public opinion polls, candidate image, and media---as previously described by Robert E. Denton Jr. and Mary E. Stuckey.;Candidate image has become, by far, the dominant element in media coverage of campaigns, although organization and financing play a stronger role in determining who will be a party's nominee. Journalists often frame differences between candidates by casting one as a political "insider" and the other as an "outsider." This does not necessarily depend on, whether the candidate is part of the dominant Washington political culture. For example, in the 2000 presidential campaign, Texas Governor George W. Bush was first framed as an outsider by dint of his distance from the District of Columbia. After he received numerous endorsements and donations, he became framed as an insider.;This research suggests that in recent years, distinct cycles have emerged in presidential elections---a byproduct of the intensely interlocked nature of modern mass media and national campaigns. The first cycle is romance, in which candidates without previous national recognition are uplifted through favorable coverage. During the second cycle, revision, the media exercise their traditional "watchdog" role. This sometimes degenerates into a "feeding frenzy," which can provoke repudiation of a candidate, especially if he is not widely and well known. But if the aspirant survives the intense scrutiny, he rebounds and enters the third cycle, reconsideration, in which candidate, journalists, and the public pause to catch their collective breath. Coverage of nationally established political figures follows a similar pattern, but the romance phase is either short-lived or absent altogether. |
