Voting with Our Fingers and Electing a President

Course Description

The Presidential Election of 2008 is an historic one. Students in our seminar look at the election through the lens of its media depiction to determine what connection media have to the outcome, and particularly how media’s rapidly changing face affects this election. We study an encapsulated version of the primary process and the Democratic and Republican conventions to catch up. We then closely monitor the weeks leading up to the November election to explore all facets of the campaign, including the candidates’ websites, television and internet coverage of the debates, and political ads and speeches, looking in particular for aims, messages, successes, failures, and surprises. What works, what doesn’t and why? How does particular coverage award or damage a candidate? We supplement our study with articles, recent books, and pertinent films that provide historical background.