1. Campaigning on the Internet: 2008 Presidential General Election Candidate Webpages
- Author
-
Mark Glantz, L William Benoit, and Leslie A. Rill
- Subjects
functions ,Linguistics and Language ,candidate webpage ,Presidential system ,president ,business.industry ,Communication ,Internet privacy ,Advertising ,lcsh:P87-96 ,lcsh:Communication. Mass media ,Political science ,General election ,Web page ,topics ,Functional Theory ,The Internet ,business - Abstract
The Internet is becoming an increasingly important component of political campaigns. This study employed content analysis to apply Functional Theory and Issue Ownership Theory to Obama’s and McCain’s presidential candidate webpages in the 2008 campaign. Acclaims (92%) were more common than attacks (98%); defenses did not occur in this sample. Policy (82%) was addressed more than character (18%). When discussing policy, these candidates addressed future plans most frequently, followed by general goals and then past deeds; on character, candidates discussed ideals, then personal qualities, and then leadership ability. This study shows that as candidates use the Internet to reach voters, their webpages conform to theoretical expectations.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF