The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 36 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Questioning Presidents: Journalistic Deference and Adversarialness in the Press Conferences of U.S. Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan
Abstract
This paper develops a new system for analyzing the questions that journalists ask public figures in broadcast news interviews and press conferences. This system is then applied in a comparative study of the forms of questioning that characterized the press conferences of Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. The comparison focuses on the phenomenon of adversarialness in question design. Ten features of question design are examined that serve as indicators of 4 basic dimensions of adversarialness: (a) initiative, (b) directness, (c) assertiveness, and (d) hostility. The results reveal substantial and significant differences for all indicators, all in the direction of increased adversarialness. This pattern suggests that journalists have become much less deferential and more aggressive in their treatment of the U.S. president. Possible factors contributing to this development, and its broader ramifications for the evolving relationship between journalism and government, are also discussed.
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Citations
Cites
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Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States
Bennett, W. L. (1990) · Journal of Communication · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.1990.tb02265.x · Cited by 1,815
Spiral of Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good
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Patterson, T. E. (1993) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,293
Analyzing talk at work: an introduction
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Tulis, J. (2018) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9781400888368 · Cited by 1,061
Indirectness and politeness in requests: Same or different?
Blum-Kulka, S. (1987) · Journal of Pragmatics · doi:10.1016/0378-2166(87)90192-5 · Cited by 891
Cited by
Responses to Wh -Questions in English Conversation
Fox, B. A., & Thompson, S. A. (2010) · Research on Language and Social Interaction · doi:10.1080/08351811003751680 · Cited by 244
Metadata
- Authors
- Clayman, S. E.
- Venue
- Journal of Communication
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2002-12-01
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 749-775
- ISSN
- 0021-9916 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2466
- OpenAlex
- W2095312996
- Cited by
- 339
- References
- 36
- FWCI
- 50.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Clayman, S. E. (2002). Questioning Presidents: Journalistic Deference and Adversarialness in the Press Conferences of U.S. Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan. Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/52.4.749
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