re: the winter issue of "The Harvard International Journal of
Press/Politics"
In vol 1 #1, editors Marvin Kalb and Pippa Norris call their
quarterly journal "a new attempt at explaining political
communication" and declare their mission to be bridging the
"divergent chasms" among scholars, journalists, and politicians.
The first issue includes essays by President Clinton, the late
Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin, Senator Paul Simon, and Secretary
of Defense William J. Perry. Topics range from how the press
monitors campaign advertising to the accuracy of pundits'
predictions telecast on "The McLaughlin Group."
Press/Politics is an independent journal based at the Joan
Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at
the Kennedy School of Government. It is dedicated to analyzing
the interaction of the press, politics, and public policymaking.
The editors invite submissions on topics reflecting a broad
spectrum of intellectual disciplines and practitioner experience.
Press/Politics welcomes articles, especially those on political
communications; journalism and public policy; international news;
race, gender, and the press; and campaigns and elections.
from vol 1 #1:
"The Press and Presidential Campaigning" President Bill
Clinton Interview with Marvin Kalb, pp 3-6
"Presidential Performance Criteria: The Missing Element in
Election Coverage" (pp 7-32) By Doris A. Graber and David Weaver
Abstract What are the appropriate criteria for evaluating
candidates for the presidency? To find answers based on the
collective record of the past, we analyzed the content of
randomly selected biographies covering a dozen modern
presidencies. From these, we distilled lists of performance
criteria to which over one hundred biographers attributed
the successes and failures of presidencies. Yet a comparison
of eight newspapers and three news magazines revealed that
these significant criteria were deemphasized in the print
media during the 1992 presidential campaign. Considering the
potential significance of performance-related information,
we conclude that the news media should provide voters with
more coverage that directly speaks to the candidates'
talents for managing the presidency.
"Inside Dopes?: Pundits as Political Forecasters" By Lee
Sigelman, Jarol B. Manheim, and Susannah Pierce (pp 33-50)
In this article, we classify and evaluate the accuracy of
the predictions issued by members of The McLaughlin Group, a
Washington-based, syndicated public affairs discussion
program with a sizable following among political elites. We
conclude that the influence of John McLaughlin and his
colleagues must be based principally on the interests and
perceptions of their audience rather than on the clarity and
accuracy of their predictions, both of which are lacking. We
argue, however, that this does not make the program any less
important a component of political discourse in the nation's
capital.
etc. for complete TOC and abstracts see
http://mitpress.mit.edu/jrnls-catalog/press-politics.html