The Role of Media in Choosing Our Candidates for National Office: Class Projects

"During the month of October the composition class at George Wythe High School completed a survey on the candidates running in the 1992 election as well as the competence of the media's coverage of each of the candidates. One part of the survey was answered by the regional chairpersons of the Democrat and Republican Parties and by candidates themselves. Some of the results are as follows:

1) Do you believe the media attempts to portray candidates accurately and fairly? Only 58% of the chairpersons said that the media's coverage was accurate and fair.

2) Does the media report more stories based on the candidates' private lives or their stand on issues? One hundred percent said that they report more on private lives.

3) When asked to rank a list of criteria in order of how the media covers issues, name recognition came in first, followed by charismatic appeal, political backing, stance on issues, and finally financial standing. . . .

4) Next the chairpersons were asked to grade the media based on the job done in informing the public about policy issues in general. The results were not surprising. There wasn't a single person in the survey who said the media was doing an excellent job. Only forty-two percent of the people surveyed said that the media was doing an adequate job while fifty-eight (percent) said that the media was doing a poor job.

This next set of questions was answered by the media----the radio, and the local newspaper. Here are the results:

1) Do you cover each of the candidates equally? One hundred percent of the poeple asked said they do. This statement is in sharp contrast with the results taken from the candidate questionnaire.

2) Is most of your coverage based on issues or on the candidates' personal lives? Eighty percent of the people surveyed said that their coverage was based more on the issues. . . .

3) Are you more energetic and favorable when you interview a candidate whom you support or who belongs to a party which your owner supports? One hundred percent . . . said that they are equally energetic and favorable to anyone interviewed, regardless of what the interviewee believes or who he/she is affiliated with.

This last question seems to sum up how the public feels about the interaction between the media and the candidates during an election. This question was answered by the regional chairpersons of the Democrat and Republican part(ies) and by the candidates themselves.

4) Do you believe that the media should play an active role in the campaign process? Seventy-one percent said that they should not play an active role in the campaign process while the other twenty-nine (percent) said that they should but only if they stick to the facts.

According to these disturbing results, the American public seems to be fed up with the way the media is running things." VA

"The results of our class survey show that sixty percent of the fifty people over thirty years of age who were polled have a negative view of Bill Clinton. When asked from what source they based their opinions, eighty-two percent said television, twelve percent said newspapers, and ten percent said radio.

Nevertheless, Clinton won the Presidency, so it is probable that the problems in his personal life were ignored.

We also asked the people if they think the media should even take the time to report such negative aspects of a candidate's life; sixty-four percent said no. Could this be because the population is just tired of hearing and reading all of the mudslinging that is going on? Fifty-five percent also said that they believe there is more coverage of the candidates' private lives rather than their stand on political issues; however, ninety-five percent stated that their vote for a candidate would be based mainly on his political viewpoint.

The question is, if this is truly the case, why does the media still feel they should point out flaws in the candidates' lives?

Another survey was handed out to our local radio station and newspapers. We asked the question, "Is most of your coverage based on issues or on the candidates' personal lives?" Eighty percent said they cover issues. This statemnt is quite a contradiction to what the audience reported. A comment was made that also questions that fact: "We try to cover whatever aspect makes the story more interesting." So, what does this response actually mean? Is it the issues or the persoanl lives that they prefer?"

Our local candidates were also questioned about this matter, and every one of them agreed that the majority of the media's reports are based upon the private lives of the candidates. One commented, "They seem to play up seemingly unimportant events but often try to hush important ones." Another stated, "The media only cares about selling papers or air time---nothing about issues." . . .(When asked) "Should the media play an active role in the campaign process?", seventy-one percent of local candidates said "No, unless they stick to the facts." VA

"In a survey conducted by our High School American Government class in mid-September, 45 out of 90 or 50 percent of the people we asked had no idea who Richard Williamson was. Forty-four out of 90 people did not know who Carol Mosely Braun was at that time." IL

"To see how powerful the media can be in helping people choose a President, a random survey of adults and students was done by two groups of Juniors at Columbiana High School. Mayor Dick Simpson of Columbiana and Judge Mark Frost, County Court Judge of Columbiana have both undergone considerable amounts of mudslinging in their careers. They share the same opinion that the media is unjust and quite frequently switches around the statements made by candidates.

. . . Mayor Simpson feels that no matter how hard an individual tries, he or she cannot beat the media, because the media will always have the final word. In Judge Frost's opinion the great leaders of the past would not have been elected had the media been like it is today.

In addition, Mayor Simpson suggests the only way the public knows about the candidate is from what the media tells them. Judge Frost believes a way people could avoid the fallacies caused by the media is by getting involved in the government.

People are letting the media run the elections, not the candidates. . . " OH

"(Students) from Columbiana High School asked them (survey participants) who they were voting for, what form of media had the greatest influence on them and did the media have a negative or positive effect on their choice. Our results concluded that television had the greatest influence with 48%; magazines and newspapers next with 22%; radio with 13%; 17% of the people were undecided. There were 42% who said the media had a negative effect on their choice." OH

"In a recent class project, we were given the task of following the various types of media, focusing on newspapers, television, and radio, and determining which of these sources was more biased and which tended to stay the most objective.

We concluded that the newspapers tended to remain the most objective. They were most willing to spend the time and space to cover the issues and platforms of the candidates and tended to stay the furthest away from the latest gossip on the candidates.

The radio we ranked next. This source tended to spend the least amount of time with election coverage, but what time was spent generally included a mix between the sensationalism and the facts behind the candidates.

The television coverage ranked the highest among our sources in their biased approach to election coverage. The main reason that this source tends to be so biased can be attributed to the ratings race. The three major networks are becoming so caught up in achieving high ratings, that the actual research and facts that need to be presented are being undermined by the sensational stories that turn up about the candidates.

Through this project we were able to get a better understanding of how the media works. Until someone sits down and concentrates on what they are listening to or seeing, they don't realize how little they are actually learning about the candidates. Instead you are really seeing the latest gossip and stories on the candidates instead of solid informative news." MD

"According to a class research project based on adults in our community over the age of thirty, few were able to even recognize the names of more than three of this year's presidential candidates . . . In another project based on the newspapers in the area, one out of 186 clipped articles relating to the national election even mentioned a candidate other than Perot, Bush, or Clinton." SD

"In the research project our class did, our local newspapers covered the Presidential candidates unequally. The articles covered George Bush two-thirds more than Bill Clinton, and covered Bill Clinton two-thirds more than Ross Perot." SD

"When a poll was taken of local candidates by students in my class, the candidates felt the media did their job and did not treat any of the candidates unfairly. The public on the other hand, when polled, did feel Clinton monopolized more air time than Bush. This could either be the result of biased reporting or a better campaign strategist in the Clinton campaign." OR

"A person from our American Government class contacted two candidates running for U. S. Congress. The Democratic candidate is Richard J. Durbin, campaigning against the Republican candidate, John M. Shimkus. Mr. Shimkus returned our phone call and is coming to speak to our class. That is showing that he is not just using the media to gain votes. Mr. Durbin would not return our calls. Mr. Shimkus also sent our class his own video tape explaining his views on issues for his campaign. From these two sources Mr. Shimkus has given us, we could develop our own opinions about him. Of course later we will get the media's opinion to influence us one way or the other." IL

"In a survey done by the kids in our senior class, in a small town, over half of the people asked didn't even know the candidates for Congress." IL