Pulp Politics: How Political Advertising Tells the Stories of American Politics - Softcover

Richardson, Glenn W., Jr.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074255628X ISBN 13: 9780742556287

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008

Synopsis

Pulp Politics argues that the stories of American politics have found their most vivid expression in campaign advertising. It is the central argument of this book that adopting the readily identifiable audiovisual conventions of popular culture is particularly attractive to candidates and communicators, and that analysts can benefit from a closer study of the audiovisual narratives of campaign advertising than scholars have engaged in. From the audiovisual evocation of horror in 1988 ads that read as 30-second trailers for the nightmare on Elm Street that would be the Dukakis presidency to the Bush-Cheney spots in 2004 that drew upon the look and feel of the popular anti-terrorism thriller O24,O evocation of popular culture has proven an extremely effective tool of mass communication in a televisual age.

About this title

About the Author:

Glenn W. Richardson, Jr. is an associate professor of political science at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. His research on political advertising and the media has appeared in the Journal of Communication, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Political Research Quarterly, and the online American Communication Journal, where his article on political advertising and the media in the 2000 campaign received the 2002 American Communication Journal Article of the Year Award.

Review:

A valuable contribution to the study of political campaign advertising. Highly recommended. (Choice)

Pulp Politics is a nice, easy read for those interested in political advertising. Richardson's theories should inform and enrich the study of modern campaigns, and help both scholars and the news media to rethink the way they evaluate television commercials. (Presidential Studies Quarterly)

In an age when college students often are more familiar with the comedians who satirize polticians than they are with the elected leaders themselves, Pulp Politics would be a useful supplement in a media-and-society or political communication course. The text raises important discussion points about the impact of audiovisual elements in advertising, the effectiveness of negative campaigning and the Ad Watch groups that purportedly monitor such campaigns. (Journalism Studies)

Here is a fresh look at political advertising and what has been written about it. Richardson's research-grounded book is a fine example of how such re-evaluations may proceed and the intriguing findings that may ensue. (Doris Graber Political Science Quarterly)

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 074255628X
• ISBN 13: 9780742556287
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 196