•  
  •  
 

Abstract

A content analysis of photographs of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama in TIME, and Newsweek during the first six months of each president's first term tested four hypotheses grounded in social reality construction and framing theories. Tests showed significant differences in the predicted direction for all four hypotheses. Obama was portrayed as more informal and more independent. Photos of him were more likely documentary and of higher visual complexity. The increased access President Obama gave photographers encouraged a public image of the new Black president as approachable, independent, and personally similar to the largely White electorate he governs.

Journal Title

Iowa Journal of Communication

Volume

44

Issue

2

First Page

249

Last Page

267

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Download

Comments?

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.