Wrong: How Media, Politics

A tide of populism and xenophobia is sweeping the western world. Disillusioned voters are turning to political outsiders and increasingly rejecting the liberal economic solutions of out-of-touch elites. Despite having access to more information than at any time in human history, we are turning our backs on experts, evidence and facts themselves in a new Era of Electronic Ignorance. Many warn darkly of a repeat of the chaos, misery and war of the 1930s.

This book provides the first systematic, empirical analysis of the media’s approach to US vice-presidential selection (or the “veepstakes”). In their news coverage, Devine finds that media outlets typically treat vice-presidential selection as little more than a game—by focusing on how potential running mates might help to win the election, rather than how they might help the next president to govern. Based on an original content analysis of hundreds of veepstakes profiles from 2000–2020, this book quantifies the news media’s relative emphasis on various selection criteria, in general and across different electoral circumstances. The analysis suggests that journalists generally fail to serve the public interest by emphasizing electoral over governing considerations. However, Devine also points to positive examples of media coverage that help the public to evaluate potential running mates’ governing credentials, and suggests ways in which scholars, journalists, and citizens might encourage media outlets to provide more substantive, responsible coverage of the vice-presidential selection process in future elections.