President Reagan's Return to Radio

Martin, Howard H.

doi:10.1177/107769908406100411

Cited by 3 publications

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“…The rationale for the study comes from the ongoing attempts of presidents and their communication advisors to control as much of their message as possible, the belief that the radio address provides an effective, unfiltered format from which the president can speak, and the sense that coverage of the weekly radio address has become a standard feature of weekend news among the elite news outlets that drive the national news agenda. (Rowland and Jones 2002;Martin 1984). Second, what policies did each president emphasize in weekly radio addresses?…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Policy Prioritization: In each year, the policy prioritization in Reagan's radio addresses focused on either economic or international issues, with much less attention paid to domestic issues. Beginning in 1982, and later throughout 1988-89, the category of Domestic Fiscal/Monetary issues outranked all other policy issues in Reagan's radio addresses during 1982, 1984. During the remaining three years (1983, and 1988, the Diplomatic/Military category outranked all other policy issues (See Table 1).…”

Section: Conclude Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The radio addresses also offered much substantive information based on "rational argument in general and statistical proof in particular," and that Reagan also defended his approach to reforming, rather than opposing, federal programs (Rowland and Jones 2002). In his early study on the Reagan radio addresses during the first term, Martin concludes that from a strategic standpoint, the administration was pleased with the outcome of the weekly events in that "the attention his views usually receive in the press and broadcast media, even when countered by opposition spokespersons, does more good than harm to his Administration's goals" (Martin 1984).…”

Section: Conclude Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton

Han

2006

Congress & the Presidency

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While president, Bill Clinton was never one to miss a public speaking opportunity. True to his word that he would "work until the last hour of the last day" in office, Clinton's last of 416 weekly radio broadcasts aired the morning of January 20, 2001, just hours before George W. Bush took the oath of office. Referring to his weekly radio addresses as his "Saturday conversations" with the American public, Clinton stated: "For eight years, we've done everything in our power to reach beyond party and beyond Washington to put the American people first, overcoming obstacles, seizing opportunities. That's what these radio addresses have been all about. These Saturday talks have often marked action taken to make our schools stronger, our environment cleaner, our food safer, our health care more secure." Clinton's assessment of the radio addresses was mostly true; he did speak on a variety of policy issues, mostly domestic ones, throughout his eight years in office. However, his use of weekly radio addresses, like that of Ronald Reagan, provided a unique opportunity to not only "talk" with Americans in a five-minute radio broadcast about important policy matters, but also served as a ready-made news-making opportunity in a controlled format that White House reporters found difficult to distort. Attempts at control of the White House message and the overall political agenda have long been goals of American presidents. During the twentieth century, the president emerged as a dominant rhetorical figure in American politics with many public opportunities to influence the

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclude Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conclude Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

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New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton

Han

2006

Congress & the Presidency

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“…In one of the few studies of Reagan's radio addresses, Martin (1984) found that NBC, CBS, and the New York Times reported the addresses fairly regularly. Reagan "frequently managed to set the agenda-for media reporters and for Democratic spokesmen charged with the job of respondent-and has been able to have his say in a setting he controls, thus minimizing the danger of errors, off-hand misstatements and faux pas" (Martin 1984: 821).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Limits of Presidential Agenda Setting: Predicting Newspaper Coverage of the Weekly Radio Address

Horvit¹,

Schiffer

Wright

2008

The International Journal of Press/Politics

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Beginning with Ronald Reagan in 1982, U.S. presidents have typically given a radio address every Saturday morning designed primarily to make news in the Sunday newspapers and on the Sunday news programs. A content analysis of the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 1982 to 2005 shows that coverage of the presidents' addresses has diminished over time both in terms of the percentage of radio addresses covered and the number of paragraphs directly citing the president. Positive predictors of coverage include presidential approval ratings and a foreign-policy topic. Negative influences on coverage include the number of addresses given by all presidents since Reagan, indicating a decreasing lack of novelty, and whether the speech occurred in an election year.

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The Weekly Radio Addresses of President Ronald Reagan

Jones¹,

Rowland²

2000

Journal of Radio Studies

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President Reagan's Return to Radio

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton

New Strategies for an Old Medium: The Weekly Radio Addresses of Reagan and Clinton

The Limits of Presidential Agenda Setting: Predicting Newspaper Coverage of the Weekly Radio Address

The Weekly Radio Addresses of President Ronald Reagan

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