Iowa Journal of Communication
 

Volume 36, No. 1

POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
 SPECIAL ISSUE
 

Political Websites: Female Senatorial and Gubernatorial Candidates and Their Opponents in the 2002 Election
Terry Robertson, Kelly McKay-Semmler & Erica Raabe

This study examines the manner in which female political candidates in the 2002 U.S. Senatorial and Gubernatorial races utilize the Internet as a means of political campaigning in comparison to their male counterparts in the political sphere; specifically, this study investigates the question of whether these candidates choose to present themselves differently than the news media traditionally has, or if they choose to reinforce these messages.

Bridging the Internet Divide: An Analysis of the Changing Nature of the Political Communication of MoveOn.org
    Anne Marie Todd & Christina M. Sabee
 

This paper looks into the conversations among members on MoveOn’s electronic bulletin boards and MoveOn’s public rhetorical messages, including press releases, advertisements and campaign actions. These conversational and rhetorical media illuminate the links between the communication for internal and public audiences, and offer a look at the changing nature of political communication.

“It is just what I do” to “It doesn’t really matter”: Youth Voters’ Considerations of Voting as Instrument and Ritual
Catherine H. Palczewski, J. Aaron Boyd, Sarah A. Gillespie, Marie E. Hamer, Patrick G. Hanson, Michelle Kelsey, Stacey E. Lyon, Alison Reicks, Sarah Tuhy, Amber Wendt, Laura Wisgerhof, & Kathryn M. Zimmerly
 

This study reveals that young people who tend to vote have a well-developed understanding of the ritual significance of voting which, in turn, contributes to their ability to recognize an instrumental effect. In contrast, those who do not vote tend to focus on the limited instrumental effect of voting, even as they argue that the effect of a wrong vote deters them from voting. This study provides data that would indicate a PSA campaign focusing on the instrumental effects of voting may be misdirected. Instead, it appears that the more ephemeral consummatory effects resonate more deeply with young voters.

Y-Me, Why Us: Constructing Women’s Illness and Roles Through Apologia
Suzan G. Kiesel
 

In 2002, Republican Representative John Hostettler (IN) was accused of communicating insensitively with a group of breast cancer survivors. When asked to support an increase in breast cancer research funding, Hostettler took the opportunity to focus on the purported connection between abortion and breast cancer. I examine three key pieces of Hostettler’s rhetoric as apologia, analyzing the ways in which the rhetoric also served as a rhetorical construct for women’s illness and women’s social identities.
 

Pedagogy Section

Getting Out the Vote: The Political Communication Capstone Assignment
Keith T. Hardeman & Kurt W. Jefferson

This essay explains an on campus presidential campaign assignment, discusses how students were prepared, reviews media use for dissemination of messages, and evaluates the project.

The Rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh: An Analysis of Diversity Issues
 Jim Schnell

Rush Limbaugh’s controversial comments regarding race and the sports media on ESPN in September, 2003 put a spotlight on his rhetoric in relation to diversity issues. This article will describe how C-SPAN videotapes can be used in the classroom to enhance student learning of issues related to diversity and rhetoric.This classroom exercise focuses on that particular area and how he conveys his position, how it is interpreted, and how this often leads to a variety of interpretations.