Spin and Political Publicity: Effects on News Coverage and Public Opinion

Abstract

Contemporary coverage of political affairs is, according to both frequent assertion and a large amount of empirical data, increasingly framed in terms of strategy. Rather than policies and political substance, strategic news emphasizes the tactics that politicians use in pursuing political goals, as well as their performances, styles of campaigning and the battle they fight in the political arena, whether in office, opposition or during elections. The strategy frame has become a leading angle in political coverage of both political campaigns and policy battles, usually at the expense of news about concrete differences in, and the potential resolution of, issue positions between candidates or policymakers (see, for example, Jamieson, 1992; Kerbel, 1997; Lawrence, 2000; Patterson, 2002).

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