Lexington Books
Pages: 176
•
Trim: 6 x 8¾
978-1-4985-4232-6 • Hardback • June 2018 • $105.00 • (£81.00)
978-1-4985-4234-0 • Paperback • June 2020 • $41.99 • (£32.00)
978-1-4985-4233-3 • eBook • June 2018 • $39.50 • (£30.00)
Vincent M. Fitzgerald is associate professor in the Department of Communication at the College of Mount Saint Vincent.
Acknowledgements
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
1Polls, Campaigns, and Television
2The Rise of Polls
3Campaigns as Sport
4Being Used by the Polls
5 Polls, Issues, and News Coverage
6Driving the Campaign Coverage
Appendix
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Vincent M. Fitzgerald has produced a strong indictment of the misuse of polls by television news—a crime against informed civic discourse that has been going on for decades. His compelling new book, The Influence of Polls on Television News Coverage of Presidential Campaigns, provides the “who, what, where, when and how” of the rise of the often-problematic reporting of election surveys.
— Stephen J. Farnsworth, University of Mary Washington
Polls are pervasive in television news coverage. To date, scholars have largely focused on how these data affect political candidates and the electorate. This book takes a close look at how they also contribute to the campaign conversation. Fitzgerald concludes that this is more of a challenge than a critique for journalism. Readers will realize that this challenge is a very important one, particularly after the 2016 election.
— Sharon Jarvis, University of Texas at Austin