The 2016 American Presidential Campaign and the News

Implications for American Democracy and the Republic

Contributions by Abe Aamidor, Stephen D. Cooper, Katherine Haenschen, Mike Horning, Jim A. Kuypers, Stephanie A. Martin Southern Methodist University, Natalia Mielczarek, Chad Painter, Andrea J. Terry, Joseph M. Valenzano University of Dayton, Ben Voth associate professor, communication; director of speech and debate, Souther, Erin Whiteside Edited by Jim A. Kuypers

Publication date:

14 March 2018

Length of book:

266 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

242x161mm
6x10"

ISBN-13: 9781498565110

This book examines perhaps the most contentious election in modern US history—the 2016 United States presidential election. It is unique in its discussion of a wide range of issues affecting the news media coverage of the election, coming from an equally diverse range of intellectual perspectives including the rhetorical, social-scientific, communication studies, and media studies. With eleven chapters grounded in hard evidence and communication theory, The 2016 American Presidential Campaign and the News: Implications for American Democracy and the Republic examines significant topics such as fake news, media construction of Hillary Clinton’s and Donald Trump’s campaign personalities, media bias, visual meme depictions of the candidates, identity politics in the news, Trump’s Twitter use, entertainment news, and social media as news. These chapters individually and collectively provide a direct commentary on the implications of the 2016 campaign news coverage for the future of the American Republic and political communication in the media.

1.The 2016 Presidential Campaign, the News, and the Republic
Jim A. Kuypers
2.Fact or Fiction: Defining Fake News during the 2016 US Presidential Election
Abe Aamidor
3.The Othering of Donald Trump and His Supporters
Stephen D. Cooper
4.Donald J. Trump’s Use of Twitter in the 2016 Campaign
Katherine Haenschen, Mike Horning, Jim A. Kuypers
5.The Pundit Problem: A Look at Bias and Negativity in Cable News Coverage as the 2016 Election Came to a Close
Mike Horning
6.News Media Framing of the Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton 2016 Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches: Terministic Screens and the Discovery of the Worldview and Bias of the Press
Jim A. Kuypers
7.Social Media Candidate Attacks and Hillary Clinton’s Failed Narrative in the 2016 Presidential Campaign
Stephanie A. Martin and Andrea J. Terry
8.Iconographic Tracking of Pepe the Frog Meme through the 2016 Presidential Campaign
Natalia Mielczarek
9.Entertainment News and Satire in the 2016 Presidential Election
Joseph M. Valezano III and Chad Painter
10.Journalistic Hegemony of “Blue Privilege:” Tracing the Use of Identity Politics toward a Political Economy of News Coverage
Ben Voth
11.Sports Figures, Social Commentary, and the Role of Sports Journalism during the 2016 Presidential Election
Erin Whiteside
Index
About the Contributors

Probably since the earliest days of campaigns and elections in the United States, no one with the claim to be an “expert” has gotten more wrong than during the 2016 presidential election. This is why we need scholars who have the time to drill deeply into the data to let us know what really happened and why. The 2016 American Presidential Campaign and the News: Implications for American Democracy and the Republic is, thus, extremely timely. The broad range of essays covers almost every aspect of the campaign, especially its communications tactics, technology, and innovations. Journalists, political commentators, scholars, and students will be equally enlightened by its revelations. Moreover, the wisdom of the book applies to post-election discourse, which is vital to understand before the next election.