Page 84 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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COMMISSION
KERNER
of Mass Communication: Current Perspectives on Gratifications Research, 1974; Melvin
L. DeFleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Theories of Mass Communication, fifth edition,
1989.
Wayne Wanta
KENNEDY, JOHN. See JFK and Television; Kennedy-Nixon Debates.

KENNEDY-NIXON DEBATES. The first televised presidential debates were
in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. They were made
possible by an act of Congress that exempted presidential debates from the
Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) Equal Time Provision for the
1960 campaign only. There were four debates, and it is widely believed that
they were a major factor in Kennedy's victory in the election. It was really the
first debate that was crucial. Most observers thought that Nixon, with his two
terms as vice president, would have the best of it against his less experienced
rival. It turned out the opposite. Kennedy was much more adept at spontaneous
responses than Nixon. Furthermore, Nixon was the victim of a terrible makeup
job that made him look pale. It was so bad that the Chicago Daily News, two
days after the debate, speculated in a front-page story that it might have been
sabotage.
The polls showed a clear Kennedy gain after the first debate. The other three
debates were much more even, but the damage had been done to the Nixon
campaign. Although the debates were widely acclaimed, there would not be
debates between presidential candidates again until 1976. A change in FCC
regulations made it possible to have the debates under outside sponsorship, and
the League of Women voters agreed to take that responsibility in 1976 and
1980.
SOURCE: Sidney Kraus, The Great Debates, 1962.
Guido H. Stempel III

KERNER COMMISSION. In the summer of 1967, nearly 150 cities in the
United States reported disorders in black neighborhoods. These involved wide-
spread looting, burning, and destruction of property. The worst came during a
two-week period in July, when large-scale disorders erupted first in Newark
New Jersey, and then in Detroit, each setting off a chain reaction in neighboring
communities. About 80 people died, and 1,900 were injured. Property damage
was estimated at more than $100 million.
On July 28, 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Com-
mission on Civil Disorders (called the Kerner Commission after its chairman),
calling upon it "to guide the country through a thicket of tension, conflicting
evidence, and extreme opinions." The president sought the answers to three
basic questions about these riots: What happened? Why did it happen? What
can be done to prevent it from happening again and again?