Page 169 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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truth
the
from
emerging
does not control or license the media but depends on SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
marketplace of ideas. Social responsibility theory says that the media must op-
erate in the best interest of society. Note that it is society, not the party in power,
as many politicians would have it. That's what distinguishes the social respon-
sibility from the communist theory. Others have suggested that there should be
more than four theories, but we feel that every press system fits into one of
these four theories.
These two books provide a basis for understanding what political communi-
cation is all about. Several others come to mind, first, because they describe the
system in action, and second, because they are the most widely read books about
political communication. One is Theodore White's The Making of the President,
I960. It was the first of four books that White wrote about presidential cam-
paigns, and he then wrote something of a wrap-up entitled America in Search
of Itself: The Making of the President, 1956-1980. However, the 1960 campaign
book received the most favorable critical acclaim. The feeling was that it told
more, perhaps because the candidates and their staffs were not aware how
closely White was watching in 1960. After that book, however, they had to
expect that he would be watching.
Another best-seller was Joe McGinniss' The Selling of the President. Mc-
Ginniss observed the 1968 campaign of Richard Nixon from inside the campaign
staff. He described how the staff sold Nixon to the American public by manip-
ulating his image and creating the illusion that rehearsed events were sponta-
neous. It is a case study; all candidates and all campaigns are not like this. Yet
McGinniss has provided an inside view of the process that no one else has
provided.
Nearly as popular was The Boys on the Bus, by Timothy Crouse. He was
with the press during the 1972 presidential primary. His theme was that the
reporters practiced pack journalism, writing the same stories with the same leads
and the same emphasis. His argument is compelling, but anyone who reads this
book also should read Carolyn Martindale's article in the summer 1984 Jour-
nalism Quarterly. In a study of coverage of 14 events by two wire services and
five major newspapers in the 1980 campaign, she found little evidence of pack
journalism.
The claim of one-party press by Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in
1952 and similar claims by other losing candidates have inspired numerous
studies of campaign coverage. Many are limited in time frame and media stud-
ied, but few have found evidence of bias in coverage. Two extensive studies
became books. Richard Hofstetter's Bias in the News is a study of coverage of
the 1972 campaign by the Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, the Washing-
ton Post, and the three television networks. He found little evidence of partisan
bias.
The Media in the 1984 and 1988 Presidential Campaigns, by Guido H. Stem-
pel III and John W. Windhauser, reports on studies of 17 major newspapers,
the newsmagazines, and the three television networks in those two elections. It