Press Secretaries and Media Strategies in the House of Representatives: Deciding Whom to Pursue

Abstract

Studies of the postreform House have often commented on the large increase in personal staffs but have less frequently analyzed the effects of the expanded work force in Congress. In particular, little is known about the evolution of roles and positions within congressional offices that may have altered the way in which Congress operates. This paper studies one important staff position, that of press secretary, by analyzing responses to a questionnaire administered to a sample of 124 press secretaries to Democratic House members in December 1984. The typical expectation has been that press secretaries would be useful for members seeking national visibility and hoping to master the electronic media. However, given the primacy of reelection as a goal for members and the difficulties of getting television coverage, these hypotheses may well be problematic. The results from the questionnaire suggest that press secretaries are largely oriented toward the local media and toward print. The perceived value of television is set largely in the district context and is most influenced by the availability of the medium, determined by the competitiveness of the local media market. The perceived value of the national media is largely a function of the goal of making the member a national spokesperson on an issue which can then be set on the political agenda. The centrality of the variable measuring the goal of issue spokespersonship suggests that publicity in the media is not sought for its own sake or merely to advance the career of the House member to higher office. Publicity is also sought to accomplish policy goals within and outside of the institution of Congress.