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There has been a lot of teeth-gnashing over the many extreme, and extremely silly, things being said on the campaign trail this year. Few observers of this carnival of bad [...]

The manner in which changes in Russia's legal and political systems hindered the country's media from effectively covering the presidential elections is analyzed.

Evidence is provided with a study of The Times' coverage of Prime Ministers in post-war Britain on the evolution of the different dimensions of the personalization of politics which is a defining and pervasive feature of contemporary politics. Personalization as an everyday phenomenon is examined by focusing on non-election periods.

Previous research has shown that visual images of political candidates can influence voter perceptions. This study examines newspaper photographs of candidates to determine whether the favorableness of these pictures is related to the 'political atmosphere' of individual newspapers. In particular, we examine 435 candidate photographs from several races covered by seven newspapers during the 1998 and 2002 general election seasons. Based on our analysis, we conclude that candidates endorsed by a particular newspaper--or whose political leanings match the political atmosphere of a given paper--generally have more favorable photographs of them published than their opponents.

This article argues that by providing virtually unlimited sources of political information, the new media environment undermines the idea that there are discrete gates through which political information passes: If there are no gates, there can be no gatekeepers. The difficulty of elites (political and media both) and academics in understanding the Lewinsky scandal stems from their failure to recognize the increasingly limited ability of journalists to act as gatekeepers. The disjuncture between elite attempts to both control and understand the scandal on one hand and the conclusions the public drew about this political spectacle on other hand speaks to some fundamental changes that have occurred in the role of the press in American society in the late 20th century. Keywords: gatekeeping; political scandal; Clinton-Lewinsky; new media

Photography's close association with travel writing, naturalism, medicine and anthropology has coincided with the extension of nineteenth-century European imperialism, providing visual confirmation of ascendant pseudoscientific and rationalized discourses of civilization, nation and race. Tomas Zanotti's K'iche' portraits convey neither total discursive omnipotence nor radical distinction, but their circulation have generated the affections indispensable to the elaboration of nationalism.

This article explores the implications for female politicians of the gendered nature of news coverage. Ah analysis of the language used in television news coverage of the English-language leaders' debates in the Canadian federal elections of 1993, 1997 and 2000 confirms that the debates are framed in stereotypically masculine ways as battles, sporting events or back street brawls. When the news coverage is compared with the leaders' actual behaviour in the debates, it is clear that the coverage focuses disproportionately on combative displays of behaviour by female party leaders, but tends to ignore the women when they adopt a more low-key style, especially when the novelty of a female leader has worn off.

This article examines discursive strategies and the power relationships in interviews as fundamental conditions for politics in the media era. The author examined television interviews of Swedish politicians and found that the news tend to divorce answers from questions, often recontextualizing them by removing the original question and replacing it with something else, thereby distorting the meanings and the interviewee's character and actions.

This article examines the relationship between the media and politicians in Great Britain, focusing on the tension and mistrust of journalists and politicians for the motivations of one another. The author analyzes political interviews, noting that the interviewer views him/herself as objective but also suspicious of the politicians intentions, and politicians tend to cast themselves as sincerely attempting to put across their message through media bias; deeper reasons for the conflict between politicians and broadcast media are explored, such as the lack of genuine debate in these types of interviews.

The authors discuss the impact of Anita Hill's sexual harassment case against then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas on subsequent claims of sexual harassment in politics. Topics addressed include public discourse and media coverage of sexual harassment in the aftermath of allegations against Senator Bob Packwood and Pres. Bill Clinton.

Journalists covering the issue of the character of politicians have not fulfilled their main responsibility, which is to explain how and why coverage of the personal behaviour of politicians links with politics and governance. There is still uncertainty about the meaning of character in relation to presidential politics, and journalists do not fully understand public attitudes towards character. Covering both sides of the story is particularly important in relation to character.

According to research that was conducted during the Spanish general elections, mass media and its coverage of politicians plays a crucial role in establishing voters' attitudes and forming their opinions of candidates.

A discussion of biographical coverage of British politicians is presented, focusing on the dual coverage of a career and personal life. Topics include speed of publication, prepublication leaks, and overlooking the achievements of political figures.

Pres Lyndon B. Johnson's perceptions on the day he withdrew his attempt for the Democratic presidential nomination were paradoxically equal to those of the movement that helped to drive him out of office. Both Johnson and the so-called 'Dump Johnson' movement acknowledged that the president was the achilles' heel of the Vietnam War policy. Yet the news media, which set the stage for his fall, surprisingly failed to see the potency of an almost unified public hostility to Johnson and were thus astounded by his withdrawal.

Australia's media coverage of politicians should be both increased and improved because of its important role of disseminating information to the public. One example is the lack of scrutiny given to remarks made by Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer. He criticized the European Parliament for questioning Australia's Aboriginal land rights policies, since the Parliament has failed to recognize land rights for Scandinavia's Sami peoples. The media should have questioned the validity of this statement.

Sir Robert Menzies implied he would resist the domination of television however Menzies entered the realm of this new medium in the 1950s and '60s and used it effectively for political gain. He helped shape and develop the role for television in political life on his own terms. Later television would become the entity that would dominate the relationship between media and politics.

US House Speaker Sam Rayburn, although highly averse to media publicity, was one of the most powerful men of his time. Rayburn always shunned the press as he believed it was be expected of a House leader. He organized media attention to focus on the committee chairs concerned with legislative functions, while he worked behind the scenes. Rayburn had little respect for those who tried to gain publicity from the media. The advent of television networks further increased Rayburn's aversion towards the media, but Rayburn did maintain close relationships with a few trusted reporters.

The press's critical view of Pres Bill Clinton's policies highlight the press's hostility toward Clinton and their bias against politicians. The press depends more on controversies than on investigative journalism and takes a cynical view of politicians' promises. Democracy cannot advance with a biased press, which forms the only effective communication system between the government and the people.

Investigative journalists should exercise tact and caution when dealing with stories on the improprieties committed by political figures. Charges of this nature, also known as eleventh-hour allegations, are difficult to substantiate and report, specially if the subject under investigation is still to be nominated into office. Public opinion towards exposes of this nature are not always favorable, however, members of the media should always bear in mind that they are responsible for informing the public on the foibles of their public servants.

Newspapers are rethinking their political coverage as readers are increasingly bored and confused by government reporting. A trend away from mundane 'process' reporting is emerging, with articles on insignificant administrative activity being replaced with issue analysis pieces. When deciding what to cover, editors are increasingly influenced by the interests of their readers. Newhouse News Service has taken a novel approach to covering the government with its assignment of a humorist to the Washington, DC beat.