School of Communications Associate Professor Frances Ward-Johnson presented a paper at the 2009 National Conference of the Popular Culture & American Culture Associations held April 8-11 in New Orleans.
Her paper, “Diverse Messages: Reaching Minority Voters during the 2008 Election Campaign and Beyond,” explored how the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama used print and electronic media to galvanize minority and youth voters.
Using newspaper content analysis, the research examines the unique messages targeted to African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women and youth voters, and investigates how the campaigns communicated to the media.
In the paper’s conclusion, the research argues that the efforts used to reach youth and minority voters were historic and should be duplicated in future political communication.