Small screen, big impact: A historical examination of the effects of television on the 1988 federal election campaign

For seven weeks in 1988 Canada witnessed one of the most volatile federal election campaigns in its history. Long considered to be a "free trade" election in the tradition of 1891 and 1911, the 1988 election is analyzed in this thesis with an eye for a more subtle political dynamic. Using theories and concepts borrowed from the field of mass communications---namely: agenda-setting, framing and priming---this study examines the manner in which political strategists and the news media created and/or facilitated their own preferred campaign narratives. In this way, these elites strove to suggest an agenda by which the electorate would be conditioned to frame its decision when casting a ballot, thereby powerfully influencing the nature and direction of the democratic dialogue. This goal was accomplished chiefly by utilizing the television medium and this thesis argues this campaign could be considered, to quote political scientist John Meisel, the first "boob-tube" election in Canada. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of archived television footage broadcast at the time, including newscasts, political party advertising and the leaders' debate, was reinforced by oral interviews with people involved in setting the 1988 agenda. This thesis then applied mass communication concepts to a historical narrative in hopes of creating a hybrid political history, one that combines the historian's perspective and the journalist's and political scientist's intensive presentism.