Page 97 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States
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McLEOD, JACK M.
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berated the panelists with whom he disagreed ("Wronnnnnng!"), addressed the
panelists in an affable ribbing manner (Morton "Mortahn-Salt-when-it-rains-it-
pours" Kendrake and Eleanor-gee-I-think-you-re-swell" Clift), and pressed pan-
elists to assign numerical values to the significance of political issues ("on a
scale of zero to 10, with 10 being metaphysical certitude and zero being meta-
r
physical doubt, how would you ate...?"). The program was criticized for
trivializing political issues, emphasizing entertainment over analysis, and low-
ering the level of political discourse. President Ronald Reagan, a fan of the
program, compared The McLaughlin Group to the movie Animal House, adding,
"Its nutritional value is somewhere between potato chips and Twinkies." Critics
also claimed that the program treated political issues in a flippant manner, as
when McLaughlin introduced a discussion about Democratic presidential can-
didate Walter Mondale's selection of Geraldine Ferraro as his vice presidential
choice with "It's a girl!" McLaughlin, however, claimed that politics did not
have to be boring. The McLaughlin Group traces its roots to Agronsky and
Company, which went on the air over the CBS television affiliate in Washington
in 1969. Unlike other public affairs programs at the time, such as Meet the
Press, Issues and Answers, and Face the Nation, Agronsky and Company did
not include newsmakers and politicians, only journalists. Agronsky and Com-
pany, however, was fairly sedate compared to The McLaughlin Group. Another
precursor, in 1970, 60 Minutes, added a "Point/Counterpoint" segment that
pitted liberal Nichola Von Hoffman against conservative James Kilpatrick on a
single issue during each program. The segment was immensely popular, and in
1974 Shana Alexander replaced Hoffman. The segment's tendency to portray
political discussion as verbal one-upmanship had the undesirable tendency that
would be magnified in The McLaughlin Group for journalists to engage in spir-
ited personal attacks and put-downs.
SOURCES: Eric Alterman, Sound and Fury: The Washington Punditocracy and the
Collapse of American Politics, 1992; Alan Hirsch, Talking Heads: Political Talk Shows
and Their Star Pundits, 1991.
Michael B. Salwen
McLEOD, JACK M. (1930- ) is Maier-Bascom Professor of Journalism and
Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a leading
authority on the role of media in broadening democratic participation and com-
munity integration. He joined the journalism faculty at Wisconsin in 1962 after
earning a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Michigan, where
he also served as assistant study director in the Survey Research Center. McLeod
has served for more than 30 years as director of the Mass Communication
Research Center at Wisconsin and as a mentor for countless graduate students
with concentrations in political communication. He and Steve Chaffee developed
the co-orientation concept in communication. The International Communication
Association awarded him the Fisher Mentorship Award in 1991 in recognition