Page 113 - An Introduction to Political Communication Fifth Edition

Intro to Politics Communication (5th edn)-p.qxp 9/2/11 10:55 Page 92

COMMUNICATING POLITICS
Eisenhower’s spontaneity was articulated in a series of ‘Eisenhower
Answers America’ spots, showing him answering questions from the American
public. The setting up of the questions and answers was far from being
spontaneous, of course, and to a 1990s audience the results look stilted and
clumsy. Eisenhower, nevertheless, won the election, reinforcing a growing
belief in political advertising’s effectiveness as a campaigning instrument.
The ‘Eisenhower Answers America’ spots were primitive, but nevertheless
established political advertising as an essential element of any self-respecting
candidate’s armoury. From the 1952 campaign onwards, ‘spot’ political
advertising increased in sophistication and production values, acquiring
what Diamond and Bates describe as ‘distinctive rhetorical modes and visual
styles’ (1992, p. x), with several trends clearly apparent.

The shrinking spot
First, US political ads have tended to become shorter in duration. Although
the Eisenhower spots were relatively brief (around 30 seconds), the 1956
campaign saw the introduction of five-minute advertisements, sandwiched
between popular entertainment programmes in an effort to benefit from the
latter’s large audience share. Candidates also bought airtime in 30-minute
chunks, which were then used to elaborate at length on their policy posi-
tions. Research found, however, that audiences quickly grew bored with
advertisements of such length, and switched off (literally or figuratively). In
response, political advertisers moved towards shorter spots after 1956. With
some exceptions (such as Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential campaign) the
preference of campaign organisers ever since has been for 30- or 60-second
spots. This format is clearly not one in which campaign issues and candi-
dates’ policies can be discussed at any length, giving rise to the afore-
mentioned criticism of advertising’s negative impact on the political process.
The form of the 30/60-second spots, it is argued, determines a content which
is inevitably grounded in image rather than substantive issues.

The rise of image
The second general trend in US political advertising, then, is towards greater
emphasis on the construction of the candidate’s image (or the destruction of
an opponent’s), and away from the communication of an issue or policy
position. Richard Joslyn observes that of 506 ‘spots’ shown on American
television between 1960 and 1984, only 15 per cent contained information
about specific policies, while 57 per cent addressed the personal and pro-
fessional qualities of the candidate – his or her ‘image’ (1986).
In 1992, successful candidate Bill Clinton’s image was constructed around
notions of youth, vigour and radicalism, contrasting vividly (as it was surely
meant to) with the advanced age and conservatism of his opponent George

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