jfairbanks obama vs. mccain
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Abstract
Presidential candidates often depend on news media to reach the general public. Since
there is a medium between the public and the candidates, their messages can get
construed and even overshadowed by the news sources own message. Media framing,
agenda setting, and media bias are often brought up in studies when the mass media is
involved. A bad picture of a candidate can be seen by millions and remembered more
easily sometimes than what was said in a speech. Past studies done on pictures of
presidential candidates have had various results. In this research study, I performed a
content analysis of positive, negative and neutral attributes from ten news and political
magazines and three covers from each that portrayed the 2008 presidential candidates,
Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama pulled ahead of McCain in terms of positive
attribute occurrences but the results were not significant.
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Media Image Framing: Obama versus McCain
Often times we glance at magazines or newspapers while standing in line at the
grocery store or passing by a stand selling them on the street. Unless we decide to stop
and buy the magazine or newspaper, usually we only get a passing glimpse of the front
cover. Those covers are produced in ways that hope to capture peoples attention and
entice them into buying the product (Bucy& Grabe, 2007; 2008; Fahmy, Kelly, & Kim,
2007; Taranto, 2008). Big, bold lettering and large pictures are meant to draw interest
and make you a potential customer. A face you are familiar with like a celebrity or recent
newsmaker might be presented in a picture to pique your curiosity even more.
During presidential campaigns, its not abnormal to see a candidate on the cover
of a magazine or a newspaper. Many people receive information about politics through
the media and often its the only opportunity for them to get to know candidates. In our
day, more than ever before, candidates go before the people through the mass media
rather than in person. The information in the mass media becomes the only contact many
have with politics (McCombs & Shaw, 1972, p. 176). Although this may hamper
communication between voters and candidates in many ways, which will be discussed
later on, this benefits the media source because they might get more sales or have more
information to add to voters knowledge of the candidates. It also can benefit the
candidate because it is giving them publicity (Fahmy, Kelly, & Kim, 2007).
For those people who do not frequently stop and buy the newspapers or news
magazines, that passing glimpse of the front cover featuring a picture of a candidate
might be the only impression they get of what the article or news clip is about. These
pictures may leave people with more of an impression of a candidate than a full-text
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article. Therefore it is important to look at the kind of pictures of presidential candidates
news magazines and newspapers are using in order grab peoples attention.
The issue becomes even more important when taking into consideration the
possibility of media bias toward one candidate or the other. Media infiltrate our everyday
lives and their importance become obvious when looking at the various technologies we
use to access media content:
Cable television provides viewers with a growing number of channels to choose
from; videotapes provide easy access to films; and the Internet, newspapers, and
24-hour news radio and television programs provide round-the-clock coverage of
current events. In their many forms, media have the potential to educate, raise
consciousness, and shape public attitudes. (Bullock, Wyche, & Williams, 2001, p.
229)
If the writers and editors of one newspaper favor a candidate over the other, there is a
chance that newspaper may feature the preferred candidate in a better light (Bucy &
Grabe, 2007; Coleman & Banning, 2006; Druckman, 2005; Jones, 2008; Waldman &
Devitt, 1998; Wizda, 2001). Biases exposed to us through media have the opportunity to
influence our own opinions or point of views.
There are many ways in which these biases might occur. They could show their
bias through the types of articles published, having more negative comments or stories
about the candidate they do not favor. A news source may also show partiality towards a
candidate by using better pictures of them than their opponent(s). The better picture
would be one that has more positive attributes than negative in terms of facial expression,
setting, and gestures.
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During the 2008 presidential campaigns, there were several instances in which
John McCains Vice Presidential-elect Sarah Palin, Alaskas Governor, made accusations
toward the media for being biased. Palin felt the media were not being fair to her and the
Conservatives. Conservative channels like Fox News and others joined in and made
claims that Obama got hardly any scrutiny from other news sources. Rarely has a
political season seen such biased reporting from the drive-by media, and rarely has the
public been so aware of it (Regnery, 2008, p. 6). Some journalists made refutations
against these claims though and believed they were just doing their job. Worse than
mischaracterizing her role was her refusal to scrap the storyline even after it was
discredited. News organizations, to their credit, pointed that out. That's not "bashing,"
that's public service reporting (Rieder, 2008, p. 4). The unresolved claims from both
sides presented an issue that needed further examination.
This study focuses on the printed pictures political and news magazines used for
their covers during the 2008 presidential election campaign of candidates Barack Obama,
Democrat, and John McCain, Republican. It examines if biases towards or against the
two candidates in terms of positive and negative attributes were prevalent from the
selection of magazine covers. Pictures can portray an array of messages to prospective
voters and it is valuable to look at the potential communication that was presented.
Literature Review
The Importance of Pictures
While the internet and television have become major outlets from which people
receive their news from due to the accessibility and speed, printed pictures still stimulate
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our visual senses and are present in our everyday lives. Biologically, visual stimulation is
the quickest and more prevalent way we learn and comprehend information (Bucy &
Grabe, 2007; Coleman & Banning, 2006; Fahmy, Gibbons, 2007; Kelly, & Kim, 2007).
Multiple studies have been done on visual nonverbal communication and have found
nonverbal communication is especially adept at communicating affective information
(Coleman & Banning, 2006, p. 313). Photographs themselves are able to project
numerous messages to viewers which can be intepreted in various ways, depending on
individual perception (Bucy & Grabe, 2007; Fahmy, Kelly, & Kim, 2007; Rodgers,
Kenix, & Thorson, 2007). While written words on a sheet of paper or relayed through
the voice of a news anchor can be mostly informational and direct in meaning, pictures
have more room to flex and communicate characteristics. One must keep in mind that
photos are meant to illustrate stories (Waldman & Devitt, 1998, p. 310). These
messages or stories told by these photos are often able to be retained more easily than
textual information (Coleman & Banning, 2006; Druckman, 2005).
Newspapers and news magazines seem well aware that images grab peoples
attention quicker and relay messages that are easily digested (Do Visual Images Sway
Voters More Than Words?, 2008; Fahmy, Kelly, & Kim, 2007). News magazines try to
inform a potential customer about their feature article and exhibit why its important to
read. Newspapers front pages also display information and pictures that they consider to
be the most important:
A key consideration in visual framing analysis is how the news photograph is
presented to the audience. That newspapers front pages contain the most
important information on any given day is now common wisdom. Newspapers
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routinely publish the most important images so that they visually dominate the
front-page space. Overall, the literature on photographic dominance suggests that
editors would select to run the most important images of the day on the front
pages. These images would attract attention and have a strong impact on readers.
(Fahmy, Kelly, & Kim, 2007, p. 550)
The fact that editors would choose to produce their front pages this way makes sense
since the front page or cover is the first thing people see. As stated previously as well, it
is also sometimes the only thing they see if they choose not to purchase the newspaper or
news magazine.
The role that pictures can play in politics is important to look at as well because
people gain opinions and make judgments about candidates not only through hearing
their rhetoric but also seeing characteristics brought out in pictures. Photographs,
however, play a vital role in the formation of impressions of candidatesOver the course
of a campaign, voters will be exposed to hundreds of photographs of each candidate in
various media (Waldman & Devitt, 1998, p. 302). The pictures that people are exposed
allow them to make assessments about the candidates without having to get to know them
personally. The importance of nonverbal communication becomes apparent in these
instances and goes back to the significance of visuals. As stated in an article by Erik
Bucy and Maria Grabe, we get to know and develop relationships through nonverbal
communication via the visual channel. When forming impressions of others, in social
settings or more formal contexts such as election contests, individuals tend to rely heavily
on information gathered through the visual channel (2007, p. 656). Pictures are a part of
this visual channel and communicate messages that hold just as much, if not more in
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some cases, weight than verbal expressions (Bucy & Grabe, 2007; Coleman & Banning,
2006; Waldman & Devitt, 1998; Wizda, 2001). If an image of a presidential candidate is
able to communicate a message to a voter that would sway them away or toward that
candidate, then analyzing this subject would benefit both fields of communication and
politics.
Media Framing, Agenda Setting, and Media Bias
Pictures and visual stimulation are not only important because of the range of
messages they can communicate, but also because of the impact they may have on the
public. Visual frames can activate certain constructs at the expense of others, thereby
directly influencing what enters the minds of news consumers (Rodgers, Kenix, &
Thorson, 2007, p. 122). When looking at how people are receiving these pictures, the
way they are framed becomes significant. Media framing for pictures can range from the
angle at which the picture was taken to which picture was chosen and which was not.
Framing refers to selecting and emphasizing certain aspects of experiences or ideas over
others (Miller, Andsager, & Riechert, 1998, p. 313). In news media, the way a story is
brought forth to audiences is framed for various reasons and can have effects on viewers
judgments. It is based on the assumption that how an issue is characterized in news
reports can have an influence on how it is understood by audiences, (Scheufele &
Tewksbury, 2007, p. 11). Often times the way in which a story or picture is being framed
by the media is not obvious because frames are unavoidable and can vary depending on a
persons own experiences or view:
Frames live in those interstitial spaces between immediate context and culture;
they exist partly in the head. Frames can be fully present, as when all elements of
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a pattern are in place, or can be suggested by one or more key features. Multiple
frames generally structure any given argument and can be either verbal or visual.
(Gibbons, 2007, p.180)
Unless a voter is able to receive information first hand, most of what is gathered
about candidates is going to be framed in some way. Even hearing it firsthand does not
guarantee its without a frame because candidates often use speech writers or fine-tune
their messages for specific audiences. As Gibbons points out:
Although framing certainly can be a technique, it also can play a broader and
more pervasive role; it is a fundamental aspect of the situatedness of any visual
argument. In other words, no visual argument stands unframed, although some
frames guide, or constrain, more than others. (2007, p. 180)
Scheufele and Tewksbury warn that even though framing is unavoidable, not all of it is
done with ill-intentions and that it is a necessary tool to reduce the complexity of an
issue, given the constraints of their respective media related to news holes and airtime,
(2007, p. 12).
Another important theory to look at is agenda setting. This theory looks at what
the mass media deem as news and what consumers then perceive as important.
Agenda setting refers to the idea that there is a strong correlation between the
emphasis that mass media place on certain issues (e.g., based on relative
placement or amount of coverage) and the importance attributed to these issues by
mass audiences. (Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007, p. 11)
McCombs and Shaws 1972 study, The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media,
found that a large amount of campaign news focused on analysis of the campaigns rather
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than the political issues (pp. 179-180). They also found that media seemed to influence
voter opinion of what the important issues were. The media appear to have exerted a
considerable impact on voters judgments of what they considered the major issues of the
campaign (McCombs & Shaw, 1972, p. 180). What the media talk about during an
election campaign may very well be the only issues voters get to hear about if they do not
make an effort to seek out other information by themselves. If the media set the agenda
and decide what is imperative for voters to know, then a closer examination of what the
mass media are talking about should give researchers greater knowledge of kinds of
limitations that are in effect. Newsrooms often follow a similar code that includes factors
like timeliness, proximity, and prominence to decide what it newsworthy or not (Tuggle,
Carr, & Huffman, 2007). Although there is no explicit, commonly agreed-upon
definition of news, there is a professional norm regarding major new stories from day to
day (McCombs & Shaw, 1972, p. 184). This professional norm can leave room for
scrutiny of news media outlets.
The objectivity of journalists is often called into examination when studies are
looking at elections and the ways in which voters can be swayed (Bucy & Grabe, 2007;
Coleman & Banning, 2006; D'Angelo & Lombard, 2008; Farhi, 2008; Jones, 2008;
Miller, Andsager, & Riechert, 1998; Taranto, 2008; Waldman & Devitt, 1998; Wizda,
2001). It is probably impossible for any human to completely put aside their own
preconceptions and judgments. While American media place great emphasis on
neutrality, there are plenty of ways in which a journalists personal favoritism or
prejudices can emerge. In modern times, journalists are becoming less detached from the
subjects they are covering and have shows or columns in which they can analyze news
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events. Bias may not have the same negative connotations in todays journalism era, and
as some articles suggest, may be more acceptable:
Perceptions of journalistic bias are as much a part of the fabric of the business as
deadlines, but they are particularly intense during presidential campaigns, when
the focus on the horse race transforms much news coverage into a start
juxtaposition of winners and losers. (Wizda, 2001, p. 36).
Credibility and neutrality habitually often went hand-in-hand within the journalism
world. When one was affected, the other would be affected as well. If a news source
was seen as unfair or biased, their reliability went down in the publics opinion. One
article however suggests that both of these factors have been going down in recent years
(Farhi, 2008). By 1984, only 38 percent said newspapers were usually fair only 29
percent said this of television reporting. Were fast approaching zero credibility (Farhi,
2008, p. 30). It is vaulable though to look at bias in media if there is a chance it could
influence something as significant as the way people vote in a presidential election.
Other Factors
Since unbiased reporting is what journalists are usually taught to revere and strive
for, taking into question their impartiality can put them on the defense. Numerous
articles, mainly by Journalists themselves, mentioned other rationalizations for peoples
claims of the apparent facade of biases or agenda-setting (Farhi, 2008; Miller, Andsager,
& Riechert, 1998; Ponnuru, 2008; Rieder, 2008; Taranto, 2008; Wizda, 2001).
One alternative explanation offered is that people do not like to hear news from an
angle that is not in agreement with their own personal perceptive. In short, individuals
tend to see bias in any coverage that presents a picture of the political world at odds with
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their own (Waldman & Devitt, 1998, p. 302). For example, a report that features
positive aspects of the Conservative politicans may cause a Liberal viewer to think the
news source is being bias and vice versa.
One article pointed out a factor that could greatly hinder news medias ability to
be as unbiased as possible. The question of bias isnt just about politics, though. Our
newsrooms are heavily middle-class, largely white and still primarily male (although the
gender gap is narrowing). Isnt this likely to have a major impact on how news is
presented? (Wizda, 2001, p. 36). The article dates back to 2001 but if the newsrooms
have remained made up of a group of largely middle-class white journalists then the news
magazine or newspapers ability to produce a greater range of perception and judgments
on what is news and how to present it to the public.
Several articles pointed to candidates using media bias as an excuse for slipping
in polls. Despite their dependency on the news media, the candidates themselves
sometimes complain about journalists approach to covering the elections (Miller,
Andsager, & Riechert, 1998, p. 313). The news is sometimes blamed for focuses too
much and too harshly on mistakes by the campaign being scrutinized. A candidate
encounters a rough patch, the news media report on it, often extensively, and the true
believers are outraged by the prejudiced reporting (Wizda, 2001, p. 38). The study
done by Waldman and Devitt mentioned how Bob Dole had accused the media of being
bias when he was considered to be losing the race:
In the final stages of the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Bob
Dole began to complain that the press, and particularly the New York Times, was
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treating him unfairlyDoles complaint was an echo of that made by numerous
losing candidates in the past. (Waldman & Devitt, 1998, p. 302)
Despite the fact that there are reasonable concerns for news sources playing favorites in
political campaigns, it is acceptable to take in to consideration the advantages accusing
the media may have for the candidate. Blaming the media for unfair coverage has
become a standard tactic in the modern campaign playbook (Jones, 2008, p. 7).
Journalists and candidates would probably be on opposing sides of this argument.
Research on Previous Elections
Finding a good amount of studies that had examined the same subject this article
is striving for was limited. Yet, the ones that were found offered great insight into the
results of past elections. One article studied the 1996 presidential election between
Republican Bob Dole and Democrat Bill Clinton. Another looked at the 2000
presidential election between Al Gore, Democrat, and George W. Bush, Republican. A
third article studied the 1984 presidential campaigns of Democrat candidate Ronald
Reagan, and the Republican candidate Walter Mondale.
The study of the 2000 election, done by Renita Coleman and Stephen Banning
found that within their sample of video images, Gore had more positive results. Gore
exhibited more positive nonverbal expressions; Bush expressed more negative nonverbal
behavior. Survey respondents felt significantly more positive about Gore than about
Bush (2006, p. 320). Even though they found that Gore was held in a more positive
light and showed more positive nonverbal communication, Bush still won the election.
An additional article looked at for this study however cited that for the same election, a
photo of Bush appeared on The Providence Journals Election Day cover displayed Bush
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outlined by backlighting which gave him a halo effect and Gore sweating (Wizda, 2001,
p. 35).
The second similar study of the 1996 presidential election found the two
candidates total scores covaried though and there was only one week in which their
scored did not follow this trend:
With the exception of the third week in September, the total scores of the two
candidates moved together. Despite the fact that Clintons scores were always
higher than Doles, their scores covaried: when one candidates scores rose, so did
the others; when one candidates scores fell, so did the others. (Waldman &
Devitt, 1998, p. 306)
The researchers looked for possible answers for the break in trend and offered one that
seems very plausible:
During that week, Clinton did hold a number of well-attended public ralies which
produced complimentary photos. In addition, Dole took his memorable fall off a
stage in Chico, California, on 18September, producing numerous shots of him
grimacing on the ground. (Waldman & Devitt, 1998, p. 306)
The study by Paul Waldman and James Devitt concluded that Clinton had been portrayed
more positively in pictures than Dole and led in polls for the duration of his campaign.
Clinton did go on to become the 42nd
President of the United States.
Sandra E. Moriarty and Gina M. Garramones 1984 presidential election
campaign study of news magazine photographs found that the total index indicated that
Reagan was represented significantly more favorably than Mondale (1986, p. 732).
However, they also acknowledged that Reagans behaviorwas represented by news
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magazine pictures more favorably early on in the campaign but by the end of the
campaign, Mondales behavior was represented more favorably (Moriarty & Garramone,
1986, p. 732). The varying results of these three studies could be explained by their
differences in methodology and specific issue of interest.
Lack of Research
Several of the studies looked for this article mentioned a lack of research for the
specific subject of news images of political candidates. Bucy and Grabe attend to this in
their article by confirming the visual aspect of news remains underresearched (2007, p.
658). Politicians, especially those running for President, pay a high degree of focus on
their image and the way they present themselves to the public as well as the media. News
sources certainly pick up on the intentional and unintentional characteristics put on
display by the candidates. However, news sources may have their own agenda apart from
the candidates and could possibly portray them in pictures that they feel are closer to who
they really are as people or lawmakers. Images are the lingua fanca of politics; yet, they
remain among the least scrutinized and least understood aspects of political news (Bucy
& Grabe, 2007, p. 668). It has already been mentioned how important nonverbal
communication and visual stimulation is when constructing judgments about other
people. By ignoring the images used of candidates by news sources, you are leaving out
an essential aspect of the way impressions are made. News images of political
candidates are vastly underapperciated as a source of information and play a centeral role
in shaping voter impressions of presidential candidates (Do Visual Images Sway Voters
More Than Words?, 2008, p. 16). As long as the printed pictures news and political
magazines select of candidates goes underresearched and less scrutinized that other
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mediums, then research on the way voters develop impressions of candidates will not be
complete.
The literature I have studied and the lack of research done on the specific subject
of bias in printed photographs of presidential candidates by print news media sets forth a
purpose for my research question that allowed my inquiries to be studied in a more in
extensive way.
RQ: How did major news sources frame print photos of Barack Obama and
John McCain in terms of positive and negative attributes?
Methodology
For this study, a content analysis of printed news and political magazine covers
featuring Barack Obama and/or John McCain was performed in attempt to answer the
research question. Content analysis often deals with qualitative research to examine
substance within a subject because it deals with qualities of messages and because it can
be applied to interpret individual cases in an intensive manner (Reinard, 2008, p. 302).
This study was meant to be both a qualitative and quanitative study in order to better
analyze each particular picture for positive or negative atributes seperately before looking
at the collection and totals as a whole. Using a content analysis method enabled
catagorations to be produced from certain aspect of the pictures. These catagories formed
the units of analysis and were then rated as either positive or negative and described in
order to be applied toward the research questions for explanation or description. Since
not every attribute is able to be placed within a positve or negative category, the creation
of a neutral option was needed. Content analysis often takes the form of describing
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communication phenomena so that other sorts of analyses may follow, (Reinard, 2008,
p. 304). Analysis of the positive, negative, and neutral attributes found within the
magazine cover pictures led to some insight about how John McCain and Barack Obama
were framed. Since the research dealt primarily with images and the words that went
along with the picture on the covers, a content analysis was a reasonable method to use
when evaluating the sample.
Definition and selection of major news magazines
Keeping the concentration on printed news sources was a step taken to reduce the
amount of content available. Politics and political campaigns or races are often covered
heavily by news resources so focusing on printed news and political media was a natural
step instead of including sources that were more likely to focus on movies, music, or
other hobbies and special interests. Magazines devote more space on their covers to
pictures, which is the main focus of the literature review and research question. Since
magazines often do hold larger pictures and fewer words on their front pages than
newspapers, the exclusion of newspapers from this study was meant to help narrow down
the amount of content and to also keep the amount of available content for examination at
an average volume. Also the amount of space dedicated to words is usually a minimum
amount and meant to enhance or go along with the picture. Newspapers front pages
however usually contain numerous stories, pictures and articles which would lead to
more content than needed or necessary for this study. In addition, news and political
magazines are more widely available and have the potential to reach an audience on a
national or even global scale than newspapers which usually are sold to smaller regions.
Sample
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After narrowing the category of content to political and news magazines, an
examination of magazines produced primarily in English with a focus on politics and
news, was done to determine which ones to include in the study. Keeping the magazines
written in the English language enabled assurance that I would be able to read and
analyze the messages of the text. Taken into consideration was name recognition and
mainstream status. Also taken into consideration was high circulation and subscriptions
based on information found on the Audit Bureau of Circulations website.
The resulting list of news and political magazines that were included in this study
are as follows (in no particular order): U.S. News & World Report, The New Yorker, The
Progressive, The Nation, Newsweek, Time, The American Conservative, The Economist,
The Week, and The National Review (See Appendix C). The titles of most of these
magazines also indicate that theyre primary focus is current news and politics which
helps indicate to potential readers the purposes of these magazines.
From these ten news and political magazines, three covers that featured Barack
Obama, John McCain, or both were selected. Having three covers from each magazine
selected gave me total of thirty covers to analyze which is a sufficient amount for a
qualitative content analysis study of this level. Only issues printed between January 1st
and November 3rd during the year 2008 were included because it was the year of the
presidential vote and issues that were featured after Barack Obama won the election held
the possibility of skewing the results. Issues before January 1, 2008 were not included
due to time constraints and the need to keep the date under control.
Units of analysis
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The images of the candidates were analyzed as well as the text that went along
with the image and previews the larger article about them inside. Using previous similar
studies as guides, categories of the different photographic aspects were formed and
became the units of analysis. These were as follows: facial expression, lighting, activity,
environment, camera angle, body position, and other (in addition to the category of text).
Since the data needed to be coded in terms of positive, negative and neutral attributes,
descriptions were made for each unit of analysis. Each unit of analysis had three
descriptions: negative description, positive description, and neutral description. For
example, the camera angle unit of analysis described positive as shots that were taken
from below since it makes the person in the picture appear bigger and taller. Camera
angles that were from below were coded as negative since they make the person in the
picture look smaller and give the feeling of looking down on them. Neutral camera
angles were eye level or drawings because they did not significantly add or deduct from
the viewers perspective. An addition of an other category helped to code things that
did not fall into specific units of analysis and to code the overall message of the cover.
Sorting the information
After selecting and describing the units of analysis, each magazine cover was
then analyzed and coded in terms of positive, negative and neutral attributes on an
individual table for each cover (See Appendix A). This table (See Figure 1, Appendix A)
enabled me to describe each attribute as well as code and rate it. A rating system of -1
for negative, zero for neutral, and one for positive was used in order to add up totals and
too keep the numbers manageable. Covers that featured both Barack Obama and John
McCain were coded twice, one time for each candidate individually. At the end of the
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study I had 35 tables due the addition of the multiple codings. The second table (See
Figure 2, Appendix A) was used to count the amount of positive, negative, and neutral
attributes that were found for Obama and McCain. An additional table was added to look
at totals from each individual magazine and their covers together (See Appendix B).
Method of Analysis
From the tables put together, looking at the various categories found and the
amount of content coded within positive, negative and neutral attributes enabled further
examination to be done.
The tables will helped to separate and gather content into different sections and to
keep track of which magazine it was found in and of which candidate. The set up of the
study was in order to point out the types of negative, neutral and positive attributes used
by each magazine as well as which candidate received the highest number positive,
neutral, and negative attribute occurrences on the covers.
Results
TABLE 1
Barack Obama Positive, Negative, & Neutral Attribute Occurrences
Unit of analysis Positive attribute
occurrences
Negative attribute
occurrences
Neutral attribute
occurrences
Text 5 7 8
Facial expression 9 5 6
Lighting 8 1 11
Activity 6 3 11
Environment 4 5 11
Camera angle 6 0 15
Body position 6 2 12
Other 9 4 7
Totals: 53 27 81
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TABLE 2
John McCain Positive, Negative, & Neutral Attribute Occurrences
Unit of analysis Positive attribute
occurrences
Negative attribute
occurrences
Neutral attribute
occurrences
Text 1 9 5
Facial expression 5 6 4
Lighting 3 3 9
Activity 4 6 5
Environment 2 5 8
Camera angle 4 1 10
Body position 6 3 6
Other 1 8 6
Totals: 26 41 53
Positive, Negative, and Neutral Attribute Occurrences
Overall attributes. In this study, Barack Obama had a higher total of positive
attributes shown within the political and news magazine covers than McCain. Obama
had higher totals of positive attribute occurrences in each unit of analysis. Table 1
displays the number of positive, negative and neutral attributes that were found for each
unit of analysis for both Obama and Table 2 does the same for McCain. Adding up the
number of occurrences for each unit of analysis showed differences between the two
candidates in terms of positive and negative. Obama had a total of 53 positive attribute
occurrences while McCain had 26. Obamas positive attribute occurrences nearly
doubled the amount McCain received. For negative attribute occurrences, McCain had a
total of 41 while Obamas total was 27. This difference between the negative attribute
occurrences is lower than the difference between the positive attribute occurrences.
However, McCain did receive a higher number of occurrences for negative attributes than
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Obama. Both candidates had higher numbers of neutral attributes than positive or
negative attributes. Neutral attributes for McCain occurred 53 times which was not a
significant amount compared to the negative attribute occurrences. Obama though had
81 neutral attribute occurrences which is one occurrence higher than his negative and
positive attributes combined.
Attributes in text. Barack Obama had more negative and neutral attribute
occurrences for text than he did positive. Although his results for text were fairly spread
out between the three categories, the fact that he received a total number of eight
occurrences of neutral attributes, higher than the positive and negative, shows some
objectivity from the news and political magazine covers. John McCain received a total of
only one positive attribute within the category of text. The amount of negative attributes
that occurred were not more than half of the neutral attribute occurrences, but the total
was still higher for negative than neutral.
Neither candidate had a high total of positive attribute occurrences but McCain
did especiallypoor in this category. A lot of the text featured on McCains magazine
covers questioned his strategies and authenticity. Examples of the negative attributes in
text found are Bring back the real McCain from the August 30, 2008 issue ofThe
Economistand Invade the World, Invite the World: The Trouble with John McCain
from their February 11, 2008 issue ofThe American Conservative. The first one from
The Economistis questioning his authenticity within the campaign since the cover is
making a call for the real McCain, or the personality and characteristics the public was
used to seeing from him, to be presented instead of the McCain being offered. The
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second one from The American Conservative is being critical of his strategies and
represents them as being hypocritical.
Several magazine covers featuring Obama had mockery-type remarks for text but
most of the negative attributes occurred on covers that featured both Obama and McCain.
This is the reason Obama had more negative than positive or neutral. For the covers that
featured only Obama, he had a higher number of neutral text attributes which reiterates
my previous statement of the cover text showing objectivity towards Obama.
Attributes in facial expression. The number of attributes for McCain in terms of
positive, negative, and neutral in the facial expression unit of analysis was divided
somewhat equally. McCains ratings in expression showed no significant difference
between positive, negative, or neutral though the higher number belonged to the negative
section. Positive attributes occurred more in expression for Obama than negative
attributes. Obama also had more positive and neutral attribute occurrences than McCain
and less negative attribute occurrences than McCain. Nearly 80% of Obamas covers that
were coded with positive text attributes showed him smiling. The lacking in neutrality
for facial expression for Obama and McCain will be examined closer later on in this
paper.
Attributes in lighting. Neither candidate had particularly high totals in negative
attributes for lighting. However, Obama had only one negative attribute occurrence in
this category whereas McCains numbers were even for positive and negative
occurrencesboth having three occurrences each.
Both McCain and Obama received a higher amount of neutral attributes in
lighting than in positive or negative. This was because most of the magazine cover
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Obama vs. McCain 24
pictures featured natural lighting, mostly from the sun, which shed an even amount of
light throughout the picture. A few of Obamas covers had lighting from the sun that
created a glowing effect near his head or around his head. These were the March 10,
2008 issue ofTime and the June 2, 2008 issue ofNewsweek. There was also a group of
covers that were coded for neutral lighting because they were either drawings or
graphically designed pictures with no lighting.
Attributes in activity. Activity presented virtually opposite results for the two
candidates. McCain had four total positive attributes and six negative while Obama had
six positive and three negative attribute occurrences. Obama also had a higher total of
neutral attributes than positive or negative. McCain though had more negative attribute
occurrences than positive and neutral.
Unlike past studies, none of the pictures used in this study featured candidates
interacting with supporters or speaking to a visible crowd. Obama received a greater
amount of neutral occurrences because most of his covers were either posed for or were a
tight shot of him from his head to his shoulders. McCain had more covers that featured
other people like Sarah Palin or were caricatures that had him doing negative actions.
One example of this The New YorkerNovember 3, 2008 cover which shows a caricature
of a child dressed like McCain trick-or-treating with a child dressed like Sarah Palin, both
wearing masks of the two, and the other trick-or-treaters are running away from them
frightened.
Attributes in environment. Both McCain and Obama had a total of five negative
attributes in the environment unit of analysis. Both also had a higher number of neutral
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Obama vs. McCain 25
attribute occurrences than positive with Obama having a total of 11 and McCain having a
total of eight.
The results from this unit of analysis have a direct correlation to the activity unit
of analysis. Just like the activity was hard to determine due to the tightness or closeness
of the picture shot, the environment was usually also hard to establish because of this
reason. The background frequently appeared blurred or was a generally solid color.
Negative attributes for environment appeared in drawings, caricatures, or graphically
designed pictures. The June 23-30, 2008 issue ofU.S. News & World Reporthad both
candidates pictures places on top of a chaotic bombing scene.
Attributes in camera angle. Obama had a higher total of positive attribute
occurrences for camera angles than McCain. However, neither candidate had high
numbers of negative attribute occurrences. Obama had zero negative attribute
occurrences and McCain received only one occurrence. More than half of McCains total
covers showed him at eye level, which was coded as a neutral attribute. Obama had a
total of 15 neutral covers which also showed him at eyelevel. This was his highest total
in any category. This could tie into the fact that a large number of the covers were close-
range shots of the candidates that were cropped to appear eye level. Obama also had
more staged or posed pictures than McCain which allowed for more intimate and direct
interactions between Obama and the camera.
Attributes in body position. Body position for McCain did not reveal significant
differences between positive and neutral attribute occurrences since they had equal totals.
The negative attribute occurrences were low for each candidate but McCain still had one
more than Obama. The neutral attribute occurrences are Obamas second highest total in
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a unit of analysis. Obamas highest total appeared in the neutral unit of analysis mostly
because 70% of Obamas covers did not have him facing forward, which would have
been coded as positive. Further examination of this will be done later on. McCains
covers had him facing sideways as many times as they had him facing forward.
Attributions in other units of analysis. For this alternative category, McCain
received only one positive attribute which was from the October 2008 issue of The
Progressive. This cover was a drawing but had McCain dressed very professionally and
wearing patriotic colors. Obama had four negative attribute occurrences but had nine
positive attribute occurrences. Most of these were due to the overall message the cover
communicated to the consumer which combined all the categories to produce a positive
leaning. A good example of this comes from The National Reviews June 30, 2008
cover. The picture is of Obama with this suit jacket off, sleeves rolled up and standing in
front of a sign that recruits voters with text below saying The Organizer: Barack Obama
in Chicago. The overall message is saying Obama is willing to roll his sleeves up and
get things done and has done so in Chicago. However, the difference between Obamas
positive attribute occurrences and neutral attribute occurrences is not significant. The
difference between McCains six neutral attribute occurrences and Obamas seven neutral
attribute occurrences is not significant either. Since journalists usually strive for
objectivity, a similar result in neutral attribute occurrences for both Obama and McCain
could be explained by this attempt.
Comparing Totals
After adding up all positive, negative, and neutral attributes for each category for
a unit of analysis total, the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama was
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Obama vs. McCain 27
significant. Obamas total attribute score was 29 while the total of McCains attributes
added up to -15. This difference of 44 between the two overall totals shows that McCain
had lower scores that added up to a negative number. Obama had a higher score that
added up to a positive number. Table 3 shows the score totals for both McCain and
Obama in each unit of analysis. Taken as a whole, it displays Obama has having higher
total scores than McCain.
TABLE 3
Totals for Each Unit of Analysis
Text Facial
expression
Lighting Activity Environment Camera
angle
Body
position
Other
Obama 0 4 7 3 0 6 4 5
McCain -8 -1 0 -2 -3 3 3 -7
While more than half of John McCains totals did fall into the negatives, Obamas
never went below a total of zero. McCains lowest score came from text unit of analysis
and his highest scores were tied between body position and camera angle. This finding
was not surprising since he had relatively high numbers of positive attribute occurrences
within those units of analysis. However, his scores do not succeed beyond the total of
three.
When the positive, negative, and neutral attribute ratings are added up together for
the other category, it sets Obama at a total of 5 and McCain at a total of -7. This unit of
analysis had a difference of 14 which was the higher than the rest. The overall messages
for Obama covers were reasonably positive while McCains caricatures brought down
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this total for him since they exaggerated his facial expressions and physical features and
communicated sarcastic messages.
Difference by Magazine
Since I collected the magazine covers via convenience sample, I was not able to
get an equal amount of covers that featured either candidate. I had a total of 15 covers
for Obama and 10 for McCain. I expected to find to covers that featured both candidates
though which helped to balance out the difference. Five magazine covers featured both
candidates and I was able to code each candidate separately. Still, it was difficult to find
covers that featured John McCain. I was only able to get covers of Barack Obama for
certain magazines because they did not have covers of McCain or they were not available
to me. This difference, although slight, still could have skewed my results.
The differences between each magazine however gave some interesting results.
U.S. News & World Reportwas the only magazine who had higher rating for McCain
than Obama. The American Conservative and The New Yorkerresulted in totals that had
both candidates end up with negative ratings. The magazine that showed the highest
difference between Obama and McCain wasNewsweek.
Discussion
Expectations versus Findings
Going back to my original research question, I found that the political and news
magazines covers used in this study did have a higher number of positive attributes
toward Barack Obama than John McCain. In every unit of analysis, Obama had higher
numbers of positive attribute occurrences. These magazine covers that were looked at
varied for Obama and McCain in the number of negative attribute occurrences for each
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unit of analysis. McCain had high numbers of negative attribute occurrences in seven out
of the eight units of analysis while Obamas negative attributes only occurred more than
the positive attributes in two units of analysis.
I wanted to know how print photos were framed in terms of positive and negative
attributes but the addition of the neutral category could have taken away from the two
opposing themes and complicated my findings a bit more than intended. Still, coding
neutral attributes proved to be useful and was a necessity for achieving a larger amount of
data.
After including neutral attributes into my coding method, I expected to find most
of the attributes landing in that range. There is an expectancy for journalism and mass
media to be fair and objective about the stories and people they are covering in order for
people to form their own opinions (Tuggle, Carr, & Huffman, 2007). Yet, neutral
attributes did not always outnumber the positive or negative attribute occurrences which
means the magazine covers did not always present unbiased representations of the
candidates. This may be a result of journalism shifting away from un-opinionated
coverage as the literature review showed. If images used by the mass media during
campaigns have as much sway on voters as the literature review suggests, then the
magazine covers analyzed for this research project would have probably influenced
voters to view John McCain in a negative way. This is because my findings show half of
the units of analysis displayed more negative attributes than neutral or positive. Of
course, I did not take into consideration the political leanings of the magazines and did
not expect to have so many of the covers turn out to be what I considered as mocking
caricatures.
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One finding that I did not expect was facial expression to have such low neutral
attribute occurrences. After some analyzing though, it is apparent the reason for this is
that magazine covers need to be visually stimulating and they do not want to see a
dispassionate, boring looking candidate gracing the front cover. Magazine distributors
know they have a limited window of opportunity to catch consumers attentions and the
best way to do that is to communicate messages through the visual channel (Bucy &
Grabe, 2007; Coleman & Banning, 2006; Waldman & Devitt, 1998). Covers will either
feature a candidate smiling, happy and confident or they will be scowling, worried and
mad because it piques interest quicker than distracted or meditative expressions because
of the lack of emotion.
I did expect to find more covers that featured Barack Obama with a neutral
expression since during the campaign he was known for being a very calm and
collected person. The covers that were coded as positive for facial expression
attributes did show him smiling or looking confident, which turned out to have a higher
total of positive expressions than neutral.
Also, after looking at previous studies, I thought I would have covers that featured
pictures of candidates and large crowds of potential voters and/or supporters. None of
the covers displayed pictures like this though. The covers had tightly cropped shots of
McCain and Obama that usually did not go below the shoulder. With the exception of
drawings, caricatures, and staged photos, I hardly ever knew the conditions under which
the pictures were taken and what the candidate was doing at the moment. However,
considering the fact that most of the covers featuring live pictures showed the candidates
facing sideways or at a slight angle, I would suggest these pictures were taken by a
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Obama vs. McCain 31
photographer at a convention or rally. If the magazine was not able to get the candidates
to pose for each and every cover, they most likely sent a photographer out to snap some
pictures while Obama or McCain was at a public event during the campaign. Covers like
the May 10, 2008 issue ofThe Economistthat show Barack Obama in profile were most
likely taken during a speech he was giving to a crowd. Factors like body position, camera
angle, environment, and activity were influenced by the magazines use ofpictures that
were easy for them to obtain.
Limitations and Recommendations
Since this is a pilot study, I recognize there were limitations to my methods and
acknowledge they were not perfect. A lack of experience with the content analysis
method and time constrained helped to hinder the possibilities of this project. If had
more time to implement the study and collect the data, I would have wanted a larger
sample size of not only different political and news magazines but also in the number of
covers from each magazine. A larger and more equally divided sample size would have
given me more data to work with and a better chance of finding solid results. For future
research I would recommend having a longer period of time to carry out and complete the
project so that a larger sample size may be possible. I would also suggest using every
news and political magazine cover that featured Barack Obama and/or John McCain to
get a better sense of who was favored on covers. To have clearer insight to the
differences between magazines, a research may consider using a smaller range of
magazines and use every cover from those few selected magazines that featured John
McCain and/or Barack Obama.
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As stated before, since the sample used within this study was a convenience
sample, I did not get the magazines I originally set out to get. After going to a few local
libraries to find certain magazines, I found their resources were usually limited or they
did not have a wide variety of news and political magazines. I then had to search online
for the remaining amount of covers I needed. Looking online lead to problems with the
magazine websites wanting me to subscribe to either their online magazine or their print
magazines. Certain websites were also not willing to provide me with images of their
back-issue covers without a subscription. I suggest that future researches take this into
consideration ahead of time if looking at back-issues or archived magazines. I was not
willing to pay for subscriptions to ten different magazines but another research might be
willing to or find funding to do so.
Another factor of limitation was that I was the only person coding the news and
political magazine covers. By having only myself to rate and code the covers, my
observation of what counts as a positive, negative or neutral attribute is the only
perspective presented. Future research should have coders trained so that ratings can be
compared between each one to find the most accurate results.
Conclusion
While this study cannot prove or disprove claims of biased attitudes from the
mass media in the 2008 election, it would be worthy to consider how consumers and
voters would have reacted to seeing the covers used here while they were still on the
newsstands. A magazine cover that had one or two negative attribute occurrences did not
necessarily make the entire cover negative, but those aspects of the cover could have
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stood out to people like a negative expression. The same can be said for magazine
coversthat a few positive attributes occurrences did not make the overall cover positive
but could have caught a persons attention. If Obama really was shown more often on
news and political magazine covers with higher positive attribute occurrences then people
who saw those covers could have felt more inclined to vote for him because of that
exposure. Media have more influence and impact on our daily lives than we sometimes
realize. Having one realm of mass media like news and political magazines back up a
certain candidate brings about the question of who is really picking the new president; the
voters or the agenda-setters.
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Appendix A
FIGURE 1
Individual Magazine Cover Coding Sheet
Magazine title Date of issue Candidate (O=Obama; M=McCain)
Rating (-1, 0, 1) Text Description
Rating F. expression Description
Rating Lighting Description
Rating Activity Description
Rating Environment Description
Rating C. angle Description
Rating B. position Description
Rating Other Description
FIGURE 2
Collective Table of all Coded Attributes for each Candidate
JOHN MCCAIN
Unit of
Analysis
Positive attribute
occurrences
Negative attribute
occurrences
Neutral attribute
occurrences
Text ( example: 1 9 5 )
F. expression
Lighting
Activity
Environment
C. angle
B. position
Other
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Appendix C
Magazine covers used in study
(2008, February 11). The American Conservative , Cover.
(2008, February 25). The American Conservative , Cover.
(2008, November 3). The American Conservative , Cover.
(2008, May 10-16). The Economist, Cover.
(2008, August 23-29). The Economist, Cover.
(2008, August 30-September 5). The Economist, Cover.
(2008, April 21). The Nation , Cover.
(2008, September 1). The Nation , Cover.
(2008, September 29). The Nation , Cover.
(2008, April 17). The National Review , Cover.
(2008, June 30). The National Review , Cover.
(2008, September 1). The National Review , Cover.
(2008, June 2).Newsweek, Cover.
(2008, July 21).Newsweek, Cover.
(2008, October 6).Newsweek, Cover.
(2008, July 21). The New Yorker.
(2008, October 27). The New Yorker, Cover.
(2008, November 3). The New Yorker, Cover.
(2008, May). The Progressive , Cover.
(2008, June). The Progressive , Cover.
(2008, October). The Progressive , Cover.
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(2008, February 4). Time , Cover.
(2008, March 10). Time , Cover.
(2008, May 19). Time , Cover.
(2008, February 18). U.S. News & World Report, Cover.
(2008, February 25-March 3). U.S. News & World Report, Cover.
(2008, June 23-30). U.S. News & World Report, Cover.
(2008, August). The Week, Cover.
(2008, September). The Week, Cover.
(2008, October). The Week, Cover.