The Jeremiad Over Journalism

Furthermore, election studies holds a prominent place in communication scholarship, as McCombs
and Shaw studied agenda setting in the American presidential election of 1968, Yiengar, Kinder and
Peters used elections to demonstrate the value of ―priming,‖ and Entman recently applied the
concept of ―framing‖ to election research in the United States. 503
Additionally, Strömbäck and Dimitrova‘s analysis of Swedish and American media also focus on
elections since these periods are ―highly amenable to cross-national political communication
comparison,‖ and more idealistically perhaps because ―news coverage of election campaigns is
essential for voters.‖ 504 Thus the large body of election research available to contextualize results of
a comparison between Danish and American news coverage makes election periods a natural
foundation for the present content analysis.
Concerning the current study‘s chronology, Esser, Reinemann and Fan, as noted in chapter 2, argue
that an important shift has taken place in the news media between the 1960‘s and present-day
political campaigns which makes the 1968 election between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey
the point of origin for subsequent analysis. According to the Esser, Reinemann and Fan, ―issue
coverage‖ combined with a ―descriptive style of reporting‖ was prevalent in the press during the
1960s, but in the following decade an important shift took place,
―In the 1970s, the distribution of media coverage changed fundamentally from issue-based
stories to stories that emphasize who is ahead and behind, and the strategies and tactics of
campaigning‖ 505
Additionally, Esser, Reinemann and Fan see the ―1988 U.S. presidential election‖ as a ―watershed
for a third stage of political journalism,‖ namely metacoverage, where the press, ―self referentially
503
McCombs and Shaw, "The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media." See also Iyengar, Peters, and Kinder,
"Experimental Demonstrations of the 'Not-So-Minimal' Consequences of Television News Programs." As well as
Entman, "Media Framing Biases and Political Power: Explaining Slant in News of Campaign 2008." Also Blumler and
McQuail, "Political Communication Scholarship: The Uses of Election Research." Page 232-236.
504
Strömbäck and Dimitrova, "Political and Media Systems Matter: A Comparison of Election News Coverage in
Sweden and the United States." Page 131-132.
505
Esser, Reinemann, and Fan, "Spin Doctors in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany: Metacommunication
About Media Manipulation." Page 16-17.
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