Every four years, press plays role in election
Commentary
By Charles L. Overby
Chairman and CEO, The Freedom Forum
04.15.00
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Here are a few media trivia questions for you.
Q. Which major political party nominated a newspaper publisher for president in the 20th century?
A. Both the Democrats and the Republicans.
Q. Who was the Democrat?
A. James M. Cox, publisher of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.
Q. Who was the Republican?
A. Warren G. Harding, publisher-editor of the Marion (Ohio) Star.
Incredibly, these two newspaper publishers from the same state ran against each other in the 1920 general election.
Harding was the winner in the election, but Cox was the winner in media success. People have forgotten Harding for the most part, but the Cox media empire today includes The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 16 other newspapers, 11 television stations and a far-flung cable enterprise.
Harding had a problem in his presidential campaign. He had a few girlfriends — one in particular — and his campaign strategists were worried the story would get out. So Republican leaders paid Carrie Phillips $25,000, plus a monthly stipend, and gave her a trip to the Orient for the rest of the campaign.
Newspapers never carried the story.
This is just one of many fascinating details to emerge from the Newseum's latest exhibit, "Every Four Years," a look at media coverage of presidential elections since 1896. Doris Kearns Goodwin, guest curator of the exhibit, has written a superb essay about presidential campaigns and the media. We have published this essay, along with illustrations from the exhibit, in the form of a museum catalog.
Goodwin's storytelling ability brings campaigns from McKinley to Clinton alive. And this exhibit offers a compelling look at how media coverage of campaigns has evolved.
The exhibit was conceived and organized by talented Newseum curator Cissy Anklam, who joined us last year from the Smithsonian.
In the 1920 election pitting the newspaper publishers against one another, Harding trounced Cox nearly 2-1 in the popular vote. But his administration was marred by scandals, and he is ranked today by historians as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history.
The fact that both Harding and Cox could be presidential nominees shows how the power of the press was wielded. Both had been politically active in Ohio, Harding as U.S. senator and Cox as governor.
Politicians and the public often speak of the "power of the press," usually in unfavorable terms. But as this year's longer-than-usual election campaign gets under way, the role of the press may be diminished more than ever.
That's because television campaign spots increasingly define the candidates and the campaigns.
Who can forget Lyndon Johnson's 1964 ad against Barry Goldwater? The spot shows a little girl picking daisy petals seconds before a nuclear bomb explodes. The ad concludes with Johnson saying, "We must love one another, or die." Negative ads are among those shown as part of the exhibit.
With both parties selecting their nominees so early this year, we are entering four months of campaign purgatory. One of Webster's definitions of purgatory is "a place or condition of suffering."
The "suffering" is the result of a campaign season that is too long, artificially lengthened by the desire of states to hold early primaries.
The candidates will suffer because they have to try to figure out how to say something newsworthy every day in April, May, June and July before the political conventions.
The media will suffer because they will be compelled to report on this daily charade and to look for other angles that might be newsworthy.
And the public will suffer because they will tire of the presidential campaign before it is over.
Most likely, both George W. Bush and Al Gore will launch a major series of TV ads during this quiet period in an effort to define themselves and their opponent.
With this long campaign ahead, we should not lose sight of the importance of presidential contests. They are defining moments in our democracy every four years.
Goodwin puts it in proper perspective: "The challenge for both the candidates and the news media in the century to come is to find ways, while still fussing at each other as they always will, to stimulate more interest and deeper involvement in more people."
We believe our Newseum exhibit helps the public understand better the important role of the media in campaigns. Highlights of this exhibit can be accessed on the Internet at www.newseum.org.
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