Presidents on Television: The Effects of Instant Analysis

Abstract

The effects of instant analyses of presidential appearances are probed through an experimental study of the CBS television network's coverage of an appearance by President Nixon. Explanations are offered for the kinds of instant analysis Presidents encounter. David L. Paletz is Associate Professor of Political Science at Duke University. Richard J. Vinegar, who was an undergraduate at Duke when this paper was written, is studying law at Cornell. The authors express their appreciation to Richard T. Campbell for aid in analyzing their data. POQ 41(1977-78) 488-497 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.37 on Thu, 28 Apr 2016 07:20:00 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms PRESIDENTS ON TELEVISION 489 back.' And an Omaha station has reportedly stopped carrying such network analysis because, according to the station manager, 'we think people have the right to make up their own minds' (Variety, 1974a). Instant analysis may be neither analysis (correspondents can just summarize the President's statements), nor instant (correspondents sometimes have advance copies of the text). Nonetheless, questions about its usefulness and effects persist unabated and unresolved. Attempting to rectify this lack of research, we undertook an experiment designed to test the effects of instant analysis. We shall first describe the presidential appearance in question, summarizing its content and the subsequent CBS analysis. We next outline the experiment's design, procedures, and hypotheses, and analyze the results. We conclude with a general discussion of the varieties of presidential television appearances, the different kinds of instant analyses, and their effects. Conference and Analysis Content In March 1974, beset by the Watergate investigation and energy crisis, President Nixon undertook to take his case to the people. This brought him on March 19, to Houston, Texas, and the annual convention of the National Association of Broadcasters. The NAB audience consisted primarily of management personnel. Generally sympathetic to the President, they applauded him several times during the news conference which was broadcast live by all three networks and lasted roughly 57 minutes (Presidential Documents: Richard Nixon, 1974; hereafter PD:RN). President Nixon began the news conference with encouraging announcements on the energy shortage. Gasoline rationing would not be necessary, service stations would be permitted to sell gas on Sundays and more gas would be allocated in order to decrease the length of the gasoline waiting lines. The President criticized Congress for not acting on his energy proposals, saying: When we speak of an energy shortage, the greatest shortage of energy is the lack of energy on the part of the Congress of the United States in getting to work and passing the legislation that will produce more energy in the United States of America (PD:RN,