Abstract
In recent years, the importance of talk radio has grown dramatically. From 1989 to 1994, the number of news/talk radio stations grew from 308 to 1,028 (Petrozello, 1994a). Furthermore, one seventh of all radio revenue in 1993 came from buys at talk outlets (Petrozello, 1994b). Among American adults, 18% report listening to political talk shows at least twice every week (Cappella, Turow, & Jamieson, 1996). Anecdotal evidence suggests chat calk radio can be highly influential in the electoral process (Zerbinos, 1995/1996). On February 12, 1996, the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination appeared ad seriatum on Des Moines calk radio station WHO-AM the morning of the Iowa caucus. This essay examines talk radio from a rhetorical point of view. Having explicated the literature demonstrating its political influence, this study will examine some of the political discourse of political of talk radio. Specifically, we focus on the way politicians use chis medium co achieve their campaign goals. In order to win votes, candidates have three fundamental options: take credit for virtuous character and deeds (acclaim), criticize competing candidates (attack), and respond to attacks by others (defend). We begin with a review of the very limited scholarly literature on talk radio. From there, we discuss our method of textual analysis. Finally, we apply our method to our artifact: a series of talk radio interviews on WHO-AM (Des Moines) the morning of the 1996 Iowa Republican Party caucus. We focus on the leading Republican candidates: Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan, Steve Forbes, Lamar Alexander, and Phil Gramm.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
30
Issue
2
First Page
2
Last Page
19
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Blaney, Joseph R. and Pier, P. M.
(1998)
"Acclaiming, Attacking, and Defending on Political Talk Radio,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 30:
No.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol30/iss2/3
Copyright
©1998 Iowa Communication Association
