The Ferraro Persona : A Fantasy Theme Analysis
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Date
1989-05Author
Leahy, Ann Eileen
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
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http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/80444Description
Problem Statement: The accounts written and broadcast by journalists during
the 1984 presidential campaign created a rhetorical portrayal
of Geraldine Ferraro. My primary interest was to discover,
interpret and evaluate the rhetoric of this portrayal which
emerged during the summer and fall of 1984. In order to
accomplish this critical task, I drew upon Ernest Bormann's
symbolic covergence theory and the methodology of fantasy
theme analysis. Answers to the following specific questions
guided my critical efforts:
1. What dominant fantasy themes did the media generate
and dramatize about Geraldine Ferraro?
2. What was the ultimate, composite persona which evolved
through the news media fantasies?
3. Through the use of fantasy theme analysis, what can be
learned about the media's rhetorical ability to shape
public perception of political personae?
4. Conversely, through the use of fantasy theme analysis,
what can be learned about a political candidate's
rhetorical ability to counter media-created fantasy
themes?
5. Finally, what, if anything, can be said about the
efficacy of fantasy theme analysis as a critical tool for
analysis/criticism of news coverage of political
candidates?
The research questions are related in that they focus on
how the rhetorical reality surrounding a candidate comes into
existence by and through the media, and how this reality
contributes to the public's coming to know a candidate.
Justification
The rhetorical analysis of the news media's rhetoric
surrounding Ferraro's campaign is relevant because of its
timeliness. Although the 1988 election has passed, the events
surrounding Ferraro's campaign have not yet faded from the
public's memory. During the 1988 election campaign, the media
referred to the fact that Ferraro's campaign contributed to
the change in the way the public views women candidates for
the highest national office. The 1988 campaign produced no
female candidate on either major party ticket, but some future
election most likely will.
By analyzing the fantasy themes generated by the news
media, the analysis makes contributions to the fields of mass
media and political communication, and communication theory.
The print and television media are forces with which the
public must contend. Rhetoric of the news media about a
candidate becomes a mediated reality by which the public comes
to know a candidate. In addition, fantasy theme analysis and
its larger area, symbolic convergence theory, continue to play
a role in the burgeoning field of communication theory.
In addition, the importance of studying the media's
rhetoric and the portrayal of Ferraro are connected to the
mass communication theory known as the multistep flow of
communication, a successor to Paul Lazarsfeld's two-step flow
hypothesis. The two-step flow suggested that the mass media
had an indirect impact on the audience via opinion leaders in
the community. But studies have shown the two-step flow was
oversimplified and has been replaced by the multistep flow
which recognizes that there are complex chains of
communication flow between opinion leaders and other people in
the community.
Relating the multistep theory to political campaigns, the
theory can be used to explain how readers and viewers of the
media rhetoric of Ferraro's campaign passed messages to other
people when they discussed the campaign. The multistep flow
shows the role a small group can play within society and the
messages society receives via mass media.