Public Speaking in the Presidential Primaries Through Media Eyes

Abstract

Speech making by candidates in the 1992 presidential primaries was mediated by television journalists more than ever before. The result of this virtual replacement of campaign oratory with the very different rhetoric of the electronic press is a thorough devaluation of oratory for television viewers, for whom these speeches perform none of their classical functions. The candidate's verbal expression becomes irrelevant, despite the fact that it conveys many important things, from detailed proposals to facets of personality that later prove their value to indications of speech context. This study examines these manifestations in evening news campaign coverage by ABC, CBS, and NBC, with brief comparisons to C-SPAN, during the 1992 primary season.