The Control Room: How Television Calls the Shots in Presidential Elections
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Free Press
- Publish date: 05/01/2000
Description:
As the nation embarks on another presidential election season full of televised campaign speeches, commercials, and ubiquitous polls, The Control Room provides a gritty look at how network news has come to dominate every stage of the political process since 1964. The former political director of CBS News, Martin Plissner shows how all the elements of the struggle for national power -- the primaries, the conventions, even the final counting of ballots -- are shaped by the struggle among the networks for supremacy in viewership.
Expand description
How did Ross Perot trounce both George Bush and Bill Clinton in primaries he never entered? Why did the country expect a Carter-Reagan photo finish in 1980 and a Clinton landslide in 1996 -- neither of which happened? As The Control Room shows how networks make election coverage decisions, answers to these and other intriguing occurrences are authoritatively explained. Plissner blends his inside knowledge, personal anecdotes, and historical expertise to clearly demonstrate how these two powerful forces -- politics and television -- are so closely intertwined.
Please Wait