New Media Use,Sociodemographics, and Voter Turnout in the 2000 Presidential Election

Based on General Social Survey data, this study employs logit models to clarify the effects of new media use and sociodemographic characteristics on voter turnout in the 2000 presidential election. It also discusses the predicting power of social-demographics on new media use behavior. Findings highlight that the behavior of actively seeking political information online, which can be expected by the level of education and income of Internet users, raised their likelihood of voting. General Internet exposure, which is reduced by age and affected by gender, however, could not increase the turnout as expected. Among sociodemographic indicators, education counted the most in the 2000 presidential election. People's sociodemographic characteristics were stronger predictors than their new media use behavior for voter turnout.     

A Functional Analysis of the 2000 Taiwanese and US Presidential Spots

This study analyzes the 2000 presidential television advertisements in Taiwan and the United States. Contrary to the common cultural assumption that Asian messages are more positive than those in the US, there is no significant difference of acclaims (positive utterances) and attacks (negative utterances) between the two countries. It appears that the cultural influence on utterance functions was overridden by situational factors in campaign communication. Nevertheless, Taiwanese spots differ from those in the US in three aspects, emphasizing character over policy, addressing past deeds more frequently than future plans, and focusing on leadership abilities more often than the US counterparts. Overall, this comparative analysis suggests a character-centered culture of political communication in Taiwan, which is different from the common emphasis of policy over character in Western political advertisements.     

“互联网总统”的迷思——2008美国总统大选中的互联网应用分析

不少人将奥巴马称为互联网总统,强调其胜利归功于善用互联网。这种说法容易导致将社会变迁简单归因于某种媒介技术的采纳与应用。本文通过一系列实证数据的分析,破除有关的迷思(myth),说明互联网应用并非奥巴马取胜的决定因素。进而分析了奥巴马在选举过程中主要采纳了哪些互联网应用,以及从哪些方面来认识互联网给奥巴马带来的帮助,给美国总统选举带来的变革。     

Public Attitudes toward Polls: Evidence from the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election

This study investigates the perceived impact of election polls,focusing on the hotly contested 2000 U.S. presidential election.Survey data from 558 individuals gathered during the final daysof the election campaign are analyzed to examine beliefs thatthe polls greatly affect other voters, general views of pollsas good or bad for the country, beliefs about whether pollstersinfluence their results to come out a certain way, and supportfor banning election-night projections. Results indicate thatmost respondents felt the polls had no influence on themselveswhile still affecting others. Respondents exhibiting these ‘third-person-effect’perceptions were significantly more likely than others to believethat election polls are a bad thing for the country. Negativeperceptions of polls and beliefs that pollsters try to influenceresults were also related to general distrust of the news media.Negative views of polls in turn were associated with increasedsupport for prohibiting election-night projections. In general,the results illustrate the dependency of negative views aboutpolling on fears of untoward effects on voters, in particularthe fear that polls and election projections might lend supportto candidates opposed by the respondent.     

美国总统大选中的网络媒体影响力研究

本文从传播学角度,分析了奥巴马赢得2008年美国总统大选中的关键要素,阐释了网络媒体如何第一次彻底地充当了美国大选中的政治工具,在开展竞选宣传、组织支持者,拉选票、募集资金、跟踪和制造舆论、劝服选民等竞选活动中产生的巨大影响力.     

Metacoverage and Mediatization in US Presidential Elections

This article develops a theoretical model consisting of three mechanisms that link metacoverage, a type of election campaign news, to mediatization, a meta-process in which media organizations influence politics. The mechanisms hinge on the point that metacoverage—consisting of both topics and frames—constitutes a rich set of process-oriented cues that influence how campaign organizations adjust to the media logic in the course of performing functions associated with the office-seeking political campaign logic. A case study of 2012 US presidential election news was conducted to illustrate how metacoverage influences campaign strategies.     

对抗与博弈:张耀曾与《大总统选举法》

民国初年,一批以实现民族独立国家富强为己任的政治精英拉开宪政救国的序幕,其中张耀曾便是杰出代表。第一届国会期间,他围绕《大总统选举法》的选举方法和大总统职权展开激烈争论,然而在袁世凯强力干涉之下,宪政理想轰然坍塌。民初的宪政虽以失败而告终,但留给后人的启示是久远的。     

Network Adwatches: Policing the 1996 Primary and General Election Presidential Ads

This article presents a content analysis of 93 televised adwatches that appeared on ABC, NBC, and CBS network evening news programs during either the 1996 presidential primary (n = 40) or general election campaign (n = 53). Since the media's role in a democracy often is highlighted by its responsibility to provide citizens with information needed to make informed and rational decisions, this article analyzes political adwatches in regard to the social responsibility theory of the press. Findings indicate that CBS Evening News journalists did a better job at incorporating adwatch recommendations suggested by academicians to improve voter understanding about potentially misleading advertising con tent. However, content analysis of 298 primary and general election presidential candidate ads revealed that television journalists did not identify or discuss ethically suspect technological manipulations present in a large percentage of the 1996 spots.     

政党的出现与总统选举——美国总统大选解探之三

驴象之争虽然免不了舞弊行为及竞选丑闻,但随着两党政治的逐步完善,它逐渐形成了一套自身的游戏规则.一方面,这些规则具有规定性、权威性,任何个人或团体从事政治活动,必须予以遵守;另一方面,这些规则又非一成不变,随着时间、环境的推移和变迁,其自身也在不断调整、补充和完善.一切政治运作基本上都遵循了民主程序;当权者靠选民的支持上台,并不是个人或党派意志的简单体现.     

创新与现代媒体的核心竞争力——CNN 2008年美国大选报道策略分析

在刚刚结束的2008年美国总统大选中,美国本土14家新闻媒体各显其能.展开了一场声势浩大的收视率大战.为此,cNN进行了界面化屏幕设计、多媒体整合、全息影像等多项新闻创新.在丰富了电视语法的同时,还一举创下1,230万人的收视纪录.从被人讥笑的"鸡汤面新闻网"到今天的传播帝国,创新是CNN赢得媒体竞争和顺应媒介发展趋势的关键策略.事实证明,在新闻获取手段飞速进步的现代社会,创新已经成为媒体不可或缺的核心竞争力.     

美国总统大选的法制轨迹：美国总统大选解析之五

2000年的美国总统大选,表面上让人难以捉摸,其实,一切都在法制轨道上运行,留下了深深的法制轨迹. 按照1787年宪法"总统任期四年"的规定,美国的大选年极易确定.从1792年华盛顿当选第二届总统迄今,只要能被4整除的年份即为大选年.但宪法仅规定:"国会得决定各州选出选举人的时期以及他们投票的日子;投票日期全国一律",[1]而并未确定一个固定的日期.因此,大选日变化较大.华盛顿当选时,各州指定总统选举人的日期、选举人投票的日期,为原邦联时期的国会所规定.从1792-1844年,大选日多在大选年的12月第一周举行[2].1845年,国会通过一条法令,把全国的大选日固定在大选年的"11月第一个星期一之后的第一个星期二"[3],1848年11月7日,辉格党人泰勒成为第一位在统一的大选日当选的总统.这一关于大选日的规定至今维持不变.     

Intermedia Agenda-Setting and Political Activism: MoveOn.org and the 2008 Presidential Election

This study tested for intermedia agenda-setting effects among explicitly partisan news media coverage and political activist group, citizen activist, and official campaign advertisements on YouTube—all in support of the same candidate. The setting for this investigation was the political activist organization MoveOn.org's “Obama in 30 Seconds” online ad contest, which was held during the 2008 U.S. presidential election primaries. The data provided evidence of first- and second-level agenda-setting relationships. Partial correlations revealed that the citizen activist issue agenda, as articulated in the contest ads, was most strongly related to the partisan media coverage, rather than to the issue priorities of the official Obama or MoveOn.org ads on YouTube. These results extend the intermedia agenda-setting framework to political activist communication efforts and consumer-generated content.     

Clicking to Learn During the 2008 Presidential Election: Why Capturing Channel Switching Matters

This article examines the effect that channel switching among news programs has on knowledge of the issue stands of the 2008 presidential candidates. Past studies focused on news-to-non-news-switching found news grazing to be negatively related to levels of political knowledge. Drawing on data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Study (NAES) the study concludes that: 1) during the 2008 general election many viewers switched from one news program to another; 2) switchers were disproportionately those who reported closely following the election; 3) the level of channel switching was dynamic during the 2008 campaign and peaked during the parties' convention; 4) switching from one news program to another was positively related to knowledge of the candidates' issue stances, in the presence of controls, and 5) the impact of channel switching on knowledge is moderated by how closely one follows the election. The implication of the results and possible directions for future research are discussed.     

The Writing on the Wall: A Content Analysis of College Students' Facebook Groups for the 2008 Presidential Election

This study looks at student Facebook groups supporting the 2008 presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, from largest land-grant universities in seven battleground states. The findings of a content analysis of wall posts show that students are using Facebook to facilitate dialog and civic political involvement. In opposition to pro-McCain groups, pro-Obama groups have wider time frame coverage and demonstrate substantively higher site activity. Political discussions related to the political civic process, policy issues, campaign information, candidate issues, and acquisition of campaign products dominate across groups and election seasons. An examination of the content of wall posts based on the four categories of the Michigan Model of voting behavior (partisanship, group affiliation, candidate image, and political/campaign issues) reveals that in the primary season, pro-Obama groups focus mostly on short-term topics (candidate image and campaign issues), whereas pro-McCain groups focus mostly on long-term topics (partisanship and group affiliation). The overall findings of this study suggest that youth online communities actively follow campaigns and post comments that foster the political dialog and civic engagement.     

Campaign Agenda Formation: The News Media in the Korean Congressional Election of 2000

The present study, as an international application of an agenda-setting model, investigates how campaign agendas of issues are constructed in an election. The Korean Congressional election of 2000 provided rich empirical data for this study; the political party agenda, the civic agenda, and the news agenda were measured in terms of issue salience at two different data points in time during the official campaign period. The results of the cross-lagged rank-order correlations between different agendas indicated the following. First, the party agenda as a whole had little impact on the formation of the news agenda. The party–news relationship, however, showed a different pattern at an individual newspaper level. Specifically, a more conservative newspaper was more susceptible to those parties’ agenda-setting than was its progressive rival. Second, a nationwide civic movement for political reforms slightly influenced the formation of the news agenda, especially that of the reformist newspaper agenda. Both newspapers, on the other hand, substantially influenced the civic campaign's issue emphases. Finally, there existed no significant interactions between the party and the civic agendas.     

Need for Orientation and Third-Person Effects of the Televised Debates in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

The televised debates in the 2016 presidential election took place between two controversial candidates, Hillary Clinton and her opponent, Donald Trump, who faced a deeply divided electorate of highly opinioned voters that had already decided on their supported candidates. How did viewing the debates influence them? Would the debates reinforce their existing opinion, or provide them with useful information about the candidates? Drawing on Davison’s third-person effect hypothesis, this study aims to shed light on the question of how viewing the debates influences voters relative to others in the era of social media. The study focuses on the need for orientation as a predictor of debate exposure and the behavioral consequences of debate exposure for electoral engagement on social media. Findings show that partisans are not impacted by viewing the debates, but respondents perceived Independents to be most vulnerable. Further, need for orientation moderated the relationship between debate exposure and perceived effects of the debates on self, which prompted respondents to mobilize support for the candidate of their choice and to vote for their supported candidates.     

Partisan Balance and Bias in Network Coverage of the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections

This study conceptualizes news bias as a causal factor producing systematic imbalance in the coverage of conflicting sides. Partisan bias is distinguished from structural bias by coverage that systematically favors one side with more prominence and attention. Content analysis was used to compare the television networks' balance in their treatment of Republican and Democratic candidates in stories and segments covering the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Presidential candidates received balanced aggregate treatment in both elections. But individual networks differed in their partisan balance. CBS News consistently favored the Democratic candidate in both elections, unlike the mixed results for ABC and NBC. CBS's pattern of imbalance, especially in the 2004 election, suggests a possible political bias in its coverage.     

The 2008 Presidential Election, 2.0: A Content Analysis of User-Generated Political Facebook Groups

Although Facebook is primarily known for building and maintaining relationships, the 2008 presidential election highlighted this social networking website as a viable tool for political communication. In fact, during primary season until Election Day in 2008, Facebook users created more than 1,000 Facebook group pages that focused on Barack Obama and John McCain. Using quantitative content analysis, the primary purpose of this study was to assess how both John McCain and Barack Obama were portrayed across these Facebook groups. Results indicated that group membership and activity levels were higher for Barack Obama than for John McCain. Overall, Barack Obama was portrayed more positively across Facebook groups than John McCain. In addition, profanity, racial, religious, and age-related language were also coded for and varied with regard to how each candidate was portrayed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

《美国新闻与世界报道》2000年涉华报道透视

《美国新闻与世界报道》是美国三大新闻周刊之一 ,在美国社会有着较大的影响。本文分析了该周刊 2 0 0 0年的 3 5篇涉华报道 ,并与以往的涉华报道和该杂志对其他国家如日本和俄罗斯的报道进行比较 ,试图找到该杂志以及美国主流媒体在涉华报道上的议题设置、报道用词与技巧 ,及其最近的一些新变化。这些变化有助于我们正确认识美国媒体及其涉华报道的态度和方法。