FRAMING POLITICIANS - THE TRANSFORMATION OF CANDIDATE ARGUMENTS IN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN NEWS COVERAGE, 1980, 1988, 1992, AND 1996

This article argues that in 1980, 1988, and 1992, our sense of preside ntial candidates' spoken messages differed depending on whether they w ere reported in issue or strategy frames. Messages in issue frames wer e more likely to be self-promotional and supported by evidence; messag es in strategy frames were more likely to be oppositional and not supp orted by evidence. However, these differences disappeared in 1996 broa dcast news coverage. In 1980, 1988, and 1992, candidates' messages in strategy stories were likely to be unsubstantiated attacks on their op ponents. In 1996, stories in an issue frame adopted this tendency by i ncluding a higher proportion of attacks than in previous years. This c hange raised the level of reported negativity in candidate discourse i ncluded in 1996 broadcast news stories.