In elections the media are typically believed to occupy a crucial position, influencing outcomes through the type and amount of coverage they assign to a given candidate or a specific political contest. Armed with this knowledge, campaigns exert a great deal of time and effort trying to attract media attention. For opponents of different races, media coverage plays a doubly important role--setting an election's racial tone. However, whether or not the media diffuse or promote race in bi-racial contests is unclear. The intent of this project is to explore media coverage of bi-racial congressional elections to determine which actors perpetuate or suppress candidate race and why. Broadly, this work answers two inter-related questions: 1) to what extent do the media define African American candidates by their race, covering minority candidates differently from white candidates? 2) if race is a salient dimension in media coverage of black candidates, is the press solely responsible for injecting race into the campaign, or does the media merely reflect the racial manipulation of others? The researcher will undertake content analysis of print and television coverage in bi-racial campaigns. Data to be collected include public campaign communiqu?s (e.g., advertising, press releases, direct mailings, transcripts of candidate speeches), poll data where available and accessible, and immediate post-election interviews with candidates, their campaign staffs, and reporters who covered the congressional races included in the sample. A thorough examination of how campaigns are racialized by the media and other electoral players will enhance our understanding about elections and the electability of African American candidates, as well as advance our knowledge about the campaign power of the media.
