THE IMPACT OF TELEVISION ON POLITICS - Partial analysis of the French 2012 campaign (original) (raw)

Images Speak Louder than Words: Television coverage of the French presidential elections of 1981

This present paper sets out to examine empirically how closely this widespread impression of bias corresponds to the reality of television coverage; or rather, less ambitiously, since one can hardly claim that there are ready-made or accepted tests of objectivity, impartiality, or fairness of political coverage on television, it will attempt to apply to the French situation criteria and methods of approach culled from various British analyses of television's end product – its programmes.3 The study is limited mainly to TF1's andA2’s coverage of politics, current affairs and the Presidential election campaign in the first few months of 1981, and does not include the official election broadcasts controlled by the candidates or their party supporters. The tests applied to the coverage fall into the following categories: range and equity of access to television by the different political actors, technical production choices and editorial decisions, agenda setting (choice of issues), and interviewing styles.

Media and politics in french political science

European Journal of Political Research, 1998

The study of the relationship between media and politics has long been marginal in French political science. The take-off of research has been stimulated by the impact of the Presidential election under the Fifth republic and by the increasing role of television and spindoctors in this new electoral context. If French studies on political communication converge with international research, they are also characterised by strong peculiarities. The material of case-studies is not campaign-centred, but gives room to various TV programmes, to a wide range of media uses by French politicians. The contribution of historians, the influence of a literary tradition of 'textual' analysis of political speech are important. The publishing of books on this topic also reveals a surprisingly intense participation from spin-doctors, journalists and even politicians. Three main 'schools' are contributing to the dynamics of French research. Linked to the tradition of semiological and literary studies the first one focuses on the study of political discourse in the media. Merging the legacy of English-speaking studies and the French tradition of electoral studies a second one develops an analysis of the campaigning process and of its effects. More recently, a new generation of researchers has widened the object of research to the complex network of relations between politicians, journalists and consultant. Linking successfully the most recent developments or international research and the peculiarities of academic tradition, research on political communication appears as one of the most dynamic areas of French political science.

The Role of Television in Shaping Democracy: An Old Dream with a Big Future?

Communication & Society, 2024

"What does the future hold for television?". That was the question we posed to Dominique Wolton. Born in 1947, he needs no introduction in the field of social sciences, especially beyond the Anglo-Saxon sphere. There are 35 works by the French sociologist spread across 26 countries and 23 languages. Outside the academy, his recognition is equally wide, belonging, for example, to the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest French distinction established by Napoleon and limited to only 75 living people. With a PhD in Sociology, he admits that his main objective is to study communication in an interdisciplinary fashion, focusing on the relationship between the individual, technique, culture and society. Among the many books published, the following stand out for discussion: Éloge du Grand Public. Une Théorie Critique de la Television (In Praise of the General Public: A Critical Theory of Television; Wolton, 1990); Penser la Communication (Thinking Communication; Wolton, 1997); Internet et Après? Une Théorie Critique des Nouveaux Médias (Internet and Then? A Critical Theory of New Media; Wolton, 1999); Sauver la Communication (Save the Communication; Wolton, 2005); Informer N’est pas Communiquer (Informing Is Not Communicating; Wolton, 2009); and Communiquer, C’Est Négocier (To Communicate Is to Negotiate; Wolton, 2022).

Seducing the Voters: The Powerful and Limited Effects of TV Electioneering

2008

This study focuses on television (TV)’s seduction of selected Metro Manila voters into electing TV personalities. It explores the influence of TV and other factors on the electorate’s voting behavior. Citing the senatorial and mayoral elections of May 2001 as cases, the study interviewed 121 households and eight personalities from media and the academe. Using the Agenda-Setting and Limited Effects theories, the study reveals that TV could have been a powerful tool in shaping voters’ behavior. The influencing factors include length of TV exposure and image packaging of candidates. However, there are other qualifications like educational attainment, past accomplishments, and good reputation that voters consider in a candidate. Hence, to emerge victorious in elections, a candidate needs much more than mere presence in TV programs. The study also indicates that certain personalities deliberately use TV in anticipation of elections. This explains the incessant campaign or electioneering ...

Televised Political Advertising Research in the U.S.

Ad Americam. A Journal of American Studies, vol. 5, s. 81-88, 2004

A popular view, supported and magnified by some mass communication scholars that subscribe to the critical rather than empirical perspective, is that political spots stand for everything that is wrong with televised politics. They trivialize life and thought, give priority to fluff over substance, manipulate the audience, and, by using pictures instead of words, escape the rules of logic. 1 The roots of some of these assertions can be traced back to the "magic bullet theory" that blamed all mass media for manipulating the atomized, alienated, and helpless individual. Others go back to the technological determinism of McLuhan, whose ideas 2 seem to have come to prominence once again in the Internet Era. McLuhanesque in nature, Post-man's criticism of television 3 blames the very medium for the quality of the contemporary public discourse. To him, nonlinear, irrational, and image-based television is not capable of conveying complex and abstract ideas. In the area of political campaigning, the peak of criticism concerning the changes wrought by television in elections came after Richard Nixon's two presidential races. Joe McGinniss, who was to obtain an insider's view of Nixon's second media effort, played an instrumental role in that process. The much-publicized account that resulted from this experience contends that: "We have to be very clear on this point: that the response is to the image, not the man... It's not what's there that counts, it's what's projected-and carrying it one step further, it's not what he projects but rather what the voter receives. It's not the man we have to change, but rather the received impression. And this impression often depends more on the medium and its use than it does on the candidate himself." 4 The view of the alleged destructive effect of televised politics in general and political advertising in particular became widespread. Researchers coined the term "image candidates ." 5 Patterson and McClure summarize the literature on this aspect of political advertising as follows: "Critics contend that televised ads fail to provide voters with meaningful information, that they degrade the electoral process by selling candidates as if they were soap, that they emphasize image-making while ignoring political issues." 6 