Research Article
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Politicians’ Strategies Regarding Their Visual Representations in Media: June 2015 Turkish General Elections

Year 2018, Volume: 18 Issue: 1, 29 - 48, 25.06.2018

Sibel Onursoy

https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.550761

Abstract




This study examines how photographic depictions of political candidates published prior to the elections are utilized. Photographic representations of political candidates, involve descriptive characteristics such as posture, posing, facial expressions and clothing style. At the same time, non-verbal clues such as smiling and raising eyebrows, which often have positive effect, are some of the factors affecting their physical attractions. Such characteristics are essential when individuals’ perceptions are considered, and they are significant components of political communication. This study examines, how visual clues and composition elements in politicians’ images, readers interpret and evaluates the findings and conclusions accordingly. Objective and intuitive interpretations of four political party leaders – who were represented through 121 photographs published on three high-circulation newspapers in Turkey for three weeks prior to June 7th 2015 Turkish General Elections-were sought by using Q-sort and qualitative interview techniques. The research question of the study is as follows: How do readers interpret composition elements of politicians’ representations and evaluate them? 

Keywords

Visual Communication Audience Perception Political Representations

References

  • Argyle, M., Alkema, F. & Gilmour, R. (1972). The communication of friendly and hostile attitudes by verbal and non-verbal signals. European Journal of Social Psychology(1), 385-400.
  • Barry, A. M. (1997). Visual intelligence: Perception, image, and manipulation in visual communication Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
  • Barry, A. M. (2005). Perception theory. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Berger, J. (1973). Ways of seeing. London, England: British Broadcasting Corportion: Penguin Books.
  • Berry, C. & Brosius, H. B. (1991). Multiple effects of visual format on TV news learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology(5), 519-528.
  • Birdsell, D. S. & Groarke, L. (1996). Toward a theory of visual argument. Argumentation and Advocacy(33), 1-10.
  • Birdsell, D. S. & Groarke, L. (2007). Outlines of a theory of visual argument. Argumentation and Advocacy(43), 103-113.
  • Birdwhistell, R. L. (1970). Kinesics & Context Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Blair, J. A. (1996). The possibility and actuality of visual arguments. Argumentation and Advocacy(33), 23-39.
  • Blair, J. A. (2004). The rhetoric of visual arguments (C. A. H. M. Helmers Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Blumler, J. G. & Gurevitch, M. (2000). “Americanization” Reconsidered:UK-Us Campaign communication comparisons across Time” In Mediated Politics: Communication and the future of democracy. In W. L. B. a. R. Entman (Ed.), Mediated Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brosius, H. B., Donsback, W. & Birk, M. (1996). How do text-picture relations affect the informational effectiveness of television newscasts. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media(40), 180-195.
  • Burke, P. J. & Stets, J. E. (2009). Identity Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York: Harcourt.
  • Drew, D. & Grimes, T. (1987). Audio-visual redundancy and TV news recall. Communication Research(14), 452-461.
  • Edwards, J. L. (2004). Echoes of Camelot: How images construct cultural memory through rhetorical framing Defining visual rhetorics (pp. 179-194). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Edwardson, M., Grooms, D. & Proudlove, S. (1981). Television news information gain from interesting video vs. talking heads. Journal of Broadcasting, 1(25), 12-24.
  • Findahl, O. (1981). The effect of visual illustrations upon perception and retention of news programmes. Communications(7), 151-167.
  • Fisher, W. R. (1984). Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument. Communication Monographs(51), 1-22.
  • Geise, S. & Kamps, K. (2012). ‘Physical attractiveness’: On the theoretical and methdological conceptualization of a critical predictor variable in political communication studies. Paper presented at the International Communication Association annual conference, Phoenix.
  • Grabe, M. E. & Bucy, E. P. (2009). Image Bite Politics: News and the Visual Framing of Elections Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Graber, D. A. (1987). “Kind words and harsh pictures: How television presents the candidates”. In Elections in America (K. L. Schlozman Ed.). Winchester, MA: Allen & Unwin.
  • Graber, D. A. (1990). Seeing is remembering: How visuals contribute to learning from television news. Journal of Communication, 3(40), 134-155.
  • Graber, D. A. (1996a). Dissecting the audio-visual language of political television. Research in Micropolitics(5), 3-31.
  • Graber, D. A. (1996b). Say it with pictures The Annals of the American Academy (pp. 85-96).
  • Grimes, T. (1991). Mild auditory-visual dissonance in television news may exceed viewer attentional capacity. Human Communication Research(18), 268-298.
  • Haumer, F. & Donsbach, W. (2009). “The Rivalry of nonverbal cues on the perception of politicians by television Vewers”. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 2(53), 262-279. doi:1080/08838150902907918
  • Hendrix, S. (2001). Planning your TV ads: The preproduction process Campaigns & Elections (pp.44-46).
  • Jamieson, K. H. (1988). Eloquence in an electronic age: The transformation of political speechmaking. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Kepplinger, H. M. (2010). Nonverbale Medienkommunikation. Weisbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
  • Kipper, A. (1986). Television camera movement as a source of perceptual information. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 3(30), 295-307.
  • Klijn, M. E. (2003). Attention-getting and comprehensionraising attributes in visual in Dutch and American, public and private television news about violence. Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1(47), 124-144.
  • Krauss, R. M., Apple, W., Morency, N., Wenzel, C. & Winton, W. (1981). Verbal, vocal, and visible factors in judgments of another’s affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2(40), 312-320.
  • Lang, A. (1995). Defining audio/video redundancy from a limited capacity information processing perspective. Communication Research(22), 86-115.
  • Lanzetta, J. T., Sullivan, D. G., Masters, R. D. & McHugo, G. J. (1985). Emotional and cognitive responses to televised images of political leaders. In S. K. R.
  • M. Perloff (Ed.), Mass media and political thought: An information-processing approach (pp. 85-116). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
  • Lobinger, K. & Brantner, C. (2015). Likable, funny or ridiculous?A Q-sort study on audience perceptions of visual portrayals of politicians. Visual Communication, 1(14), 15-40.
  • Lombard, M. & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Computer-Mediated Communication, 2(3).
  • Lundell, Å. K. (2010). The fragility of visuals: How politicians manage their mediated visibility in the press. Journal of Language & Politics, 2(9), 219–236.
  • Luntz, F. (2007). Words that work: It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear. New York: Hyperion.
  • Mandell, L. M. & Shaw, D. L. (1973). Judging people in the news unconsciously: Effects of camera angle and bodily activity. Journal of Broadcasting, 3(17), 353-362.
  • McCombs, M. (2004). Setting the Agenda. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  • Messaris, P. (1997). Visual persuasion: The role of images in advertising. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Moffit, M. A. (1999). Campaign strategies and message design: A practitioner’s guide from start to finish. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Moriarty, S. E. & Garramone, G. M. (1986). A study of newsmagazine photographs of the 1984 presidential campaign. Journalism Quarterly, 4(63), 728-734.
  • Moriarty, S. E. & Popovich, M. N. (1991). Newsmagazine visuals and the 1988 presidential election. Journalism Quarterly, 3(68), 371-380.
  • Nelson, J. S. & Boyton, G. R. (1997). Video rhetorics: Televised advertising in American politics. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
  • Noller, P. (1985). Video primacy: A further look. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1(9), 28-47.
  • Olivola, C. Y. & Todorov, A. (2010). Elected in 100 milliseconds: Appearance-based trait inferences and voting. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior(34), 83-110.
  • Paivio, A. (1979). Imagery and verbal processes. Hillsdale, NK: Erlbaum.
  • Papathanassopoulos, S., et al. (2007). Political communication in the era of professionalization. In R. Negrine, et al (Ed.), The Professionalisation of Political Communication. Changing Media, Changing Europe (pp. 7-25). Bristol: Intellect.
  • Perlmutter, D. D. (1998). Photojournalism and foreign policy. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Posner, M. I., Nissen, M. J. & Klein, R. M. (1976). Visual dominance: An information- processing account of its origins and significance. Psychological Review(83), 157-171.
  • Pratkanis, A. & Aronson, E. (2008). Propaganda çağı. İstanbul: Bayrak.
  • Riggle, E. D., Ottati, V. C., Wyer, R. S., Kuklinski, J. & Schwarz, N. (1992). Bases of political judgments: The role of stereotypic and nonstereotypic information. Political Behavior, 1(14), 67-87.
  • Rose, G. (2012). Visual Methodologies (3 ed.). London, Thousand Oaks, New delhi, Singapore: Sage.
  • Schill, D. (2012). The Visual Image and the Political Image: A Review of Visual Communication Research in the Field of Political Communication. The Review of Communication 12(2), 118-142.
  • Schulz, W. (2011). Politische Kommunikation: Theoretische Ansätze und Ergebnisse empirischer Forschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
  • Schweiger, G. & Adami, M. (1999). The nonverbal image of politicians and political parties. In B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of political marketing (pp. 347-364). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Shea, D. M. & Burton, M. J. (2001). Campaign craft: The strategies, tactics, and art of political campaign management. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
  • Spratt, M., Peterson, A. & Lagos, T. (2005). Of photographs and flags: Uses and perceptions of an iconic image before and after September 11, 2001. Popular Communication, 2(3), 117-136.
  • Stephenson, W. (1953). The Study of Behavior: Q-Technique and Its Methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Strömback, J. (2007). Political marketing and professionalized campaigning, 6.
  • Strother, R. D. (1999). Preparing candidates for television (D. D. Perlmutter Ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
  • Thompson, J. B. (2005). The new visibility. Theory Culture & Society, 22(6), 31-+. doi: 10.1177/0263276405059413
  • Verser, R. & Wicks, R. H. (2006). Managing voter impressions: The use of images on presidential candidate web sites during the 2000 campaign. Journal of Communication, 1(56), 178-197.
  • Wanta, W. (1988). The Effects of Dominant Photographs - An Agenda-Setting Experiment. Journalism Quarterly, 65(1), 107-111.
  • Wray, J. H. (1999). Through a glass darkly: Television and American electoral politics. (B. I. Newman Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Year 2018, Volume: 18 Issue: 1, 29 - 48, 25.06.2018

Sibel Onursoy

https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.550761

Abstract

References

  • Argyle, M., Alkema, F. & Gilmour, R. (1972). The communication of friendly and hostile attitudes by verbal and non-verbal signals. European Journal of Social Psychology(1), 385-400.
  • Barry, A. M. (1997). Visual intelligence: Perception, image, and manipulation in visual communication Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
  • Barry, A. M. (2005). Perception theory. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Berger, J. (1973). Ways of seeing. London, England: British Broadcasting Corportion: Penguin Books.
  • Berry, C. & Brosius, H. B. (1991). Multiple effects of visual format on TV news learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology(5), 519-528.
  • Birdsell, D. S. & Groarke, L. (1996). Toward a theory of visual argument. Argumentation and Advocacy(33), 1-10.
  • Birdsell, D. S. & Groarke, L. (2007). Outlines of a theory of visual argument. Argumentation and Advocacy(43), 103-113.
  • Birdwhistell, R. L. (1970). Kinesics & Context Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  • Blair, J. A. (1996). The possibility and actuality of visual arguments. Argumentation and Advocacy(33), 23-39.
  • Blair, J. A. (2004). The rhetoric of visual arguments (C. A. H. M. Helmers Ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Blumler, J. G. & Gurevitch, M. (2000). “Americanization” Reconsidered:UK-Us Campaign communication comparisons across Time” In Mediated Politics: Communication and the future of democracy. In W. L. B. a. R. Entman (Ed.), Mediated Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brosius, H. B., Donsback, W. & Birk, M. (1996). How do text-picture relations affect the informational effectiveness of television newscasts. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media(40), 180-195.
  • Burke, P. J. & Stets, J. E. (2009). Identity Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York: Harcourt.
  • Drew, D. & Grimes, T. (1987). Audio-visual redundancy and TV news recall. Communication Research(14), 452-461.
  • Edwards, J. L. (2004). Echoes of Camelot: How images construct cultural memory through rhetorical framing Defining visual rhetorics (pp. 179-194). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Edwardson, M., Grooms, D. & Proudlove, S. (1981). Television news information gain from interesting video vs. talking heads. Journal of Broadcasting, 1(25), 12-24.
  • Findahl, O. (1981). The effect of visual illustrations upon perception and retention of news programmes. Communications(7), 151-167.
  • Fisher, W. R. (1984). Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument. Communication Monographs(51), 1-22.
  • Geise, S. & Kamps, K. (2012). ‘Physical attractiveness’: On the theoretical and methdological conceptualization of a critical predictor variable in political communication studies. Paper presented at the International Communication Association annual conference, Phoenix.
  • Grabe, M. E. & Bucy, E. P. (2009). Image Bite Politics: News and the Visual Framing of Elections Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Graber, D. A. (1987). “Kind words and harsh pictures: How television presents the candidates”. In Elections in America (K. L. Schlozman Ed.). Winchester, MA: Allen & Unwin.
  • Graber, D. A. (1990). Seeing is remembering: How visuals contribute to learning from television news. Journal of Communication, 3(40), 134-155.
  • Graber, D. A. (1996a). Dissecting the audio-visual language of political television. Research in Micropolitics(5), 3-31.
  • Graber, D. A. (1996b). Say it with pictures The Annals of the American Academy (pp. 85-96).
  • Grimes, T. (1991). Mild auditory-visual dissonance in television news may exceed viewer attentional capacity. Human Communication Research(18), 268-298.
  • Haumer, F. & Donsbach, W. (2009). “The Rivalry of nonverbal cues on the perception of politicians by television Vewers”. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 2(53), 262-279. doi:1080/08838150902907918
  • Hendrix, S. (2001). Planning your TV ads: The preproduction process Campaigns & Elections (pp.44-46).
  • Jamieson, K. H. (1988). Eloquence in an electronic age: The transformation of political speechmaking. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Kepplinger, H. M. (2010). Nonverbale Medienkommunikation. Weisbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
  • Kipper, A. (1986). Television camera movement as a source of perceptual information. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 3(30), 295-307.
  • Klijn, M. E. (2003). Attention-getting and comprehensionraising attributes in visual in Dutch and American, public and private television news about violence. Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1(47), 124-144.
  • Krauss, R. M., Apple, W., Morency, N., Wenzel, C. & Winton, W. (1981). Verbal, vocal, and visible factors in judgments of another’s affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2(40), 312-320.
  • Lang, A. (1995). Defining audio/video redundancy from a limited capacity information processing perspective. Communication Research(22), 86-115.
  • Lanzetta, J. T., Sullivan, D. G., Masters, R. D. & McHugo, G. J. (1985). Emotional and cognitive responses to televised images of political leaders. In S. K. R.
  • M. Perloff (Ed.), Mass media and political thought: An information-processing approach (pp. 85-116). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
  • Lobinger, K. & Brantner, C. (2015). Likable, funny or ridiculous?A Q-sort study on audience perceptions of visual portrayals of politicians. Visual Communication, 1(14), 15-40.
  • Lombard, M. & Ditton, T. (1997). At the heart of it all: The concept of presence. Computer-Mediated Communication, 2(3).
  • Lundell, Å. K. (2010). The fragility of visuals: How politicians manage their mediated visibility in the press. Journal of Language & Politics, 2(9), 219–236.
  • Luntz, F. (2007). Words that work: It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear. New York: Hyperion.
  • Mandell, L. M. & Shaw, D. L. (1973). Judging people in the news unconsciously: Effects of camera angle and bodily activity. Journal of Broadcasting, 3(17), 353-362.
  • McCombs, M. (2004). Setting the Agenda. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
  • Messaris, P. (1997). Visual persuasion: The role of images in advertising. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Moffit, M. A. (1999). Campaign strategies and message design: A practitioner’s guide from start to finish. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Moriarty, S. E. & Garramone, G. M. (1986). A study of newsmagazine photographs of the 1984 presidential campaign. Journalism Quarterly, 4(63), 728-734.
  • Moriarty, S. E. & Popovich, M. N. (1991). Newsmagazine visuals and the 1988 presidential election. Journalism Quarterly, 3(68), 371-380.
  • Nelson, J. S. & Boyton, G. R. (1997). Video rhetorics: Televised advertising in American politics. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
  • Noller, P. (1985). Video primacy: A further look. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 1(9), 28-47.
  • Olivola, C. Y. & Todorov, A. (2010). Elected in 100 milliseconds: Appearance-based trait inferences and voting. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior(34), 83-110.
  • Paivio, A. (1979). Imagery and verbal processes. Hillsdale, NK: Erlbaum.
  • Papathanassopoulos, S., et al. (2007). Political communication in the era of professionalization. In R. Negrine, et al (Ed.), The Professionalisation of Political Communication. Changing Media, Changing Europe (pp. 7-25). Bristol: Intellect.
  • Perlmutter, D. D. (1998). Photojournalism and foreign policy. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Posner, M. I., Nissen, M. J. & Klein, R. M. (1976). Visual dominance: An information- processing account of its origins and significance. Psychological Review(83), 157-171.
  • Pratkanis, A. & Aronson, E. (2008). Propaganda çağı. İstanbul: Bayrak.
  • Riggle, E. D., Ottati, V. C., Wyer, R. S., Kuklinski, J. & Schwarz, N. (1992). Bases of political judgments: The role of stereotypic and nonstereotypic information. Political Behavior, 1(14), 67-87.
  • Rose, G. (2012). Visual Methodologies (3 ed.). London, Thousand Oaks, New delhi, Singapore: Sage.
  • Schill, D. (2012). The Visual Image and the Political Image: A Review of Visual Communication Research in the Field of Political Communication. The Review of Communication 12(2), 118-142.
  • Schulz, W. (2011). Politische Kommunikation: Theoretische Ansätze und Ergebnisse empirischer Forschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
  • Schweiger, G. & Adami, M. (1999). The nonverbal image of politicians and political parties. In B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of political marketing (pp. 347-364). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Shea, D. M. & Burton, M. J. (2001). Campaign craft: The strategies, tactics, and art of political campaign management. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
  • Spratt, M., Peterson, A. & Lagos, T. (2005). Of photographs and flags: Uses and perceptions of an iconic image before and after September 11, 2001. Popular Communication, 2(3), 117-136.
  • Stephenson, W. (1953). The Study of Behavior: Q-Technique and Its Methodology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Strömback, J. (2007). Political marketing and professionalized campaigning, 6.
  • Strother, R. D. (1999). Preparing candidates for television (D. D. Perlmutter Ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press.
  • Thompson, J. B. (2005). The new visibility. Theory Culture & Society, 22(6), 31-+. doi: 10.1177/0263276405059413
  • Verser, R. & Wicks, R. H. (2006). Managing voter impressions: The use of images on presidential candidate web sites during the 2000 campaign. Journal of Communication, 1(56), 178-197.
  • Wanta, W. (1988). The Effects of Dominant Photographs - An Agenda-Setting Experiment. Journalism Quarterly, 65(1), 107-111.
  • Wray, J. H. (1999). Through a glass darkly: Television and American electoral politics. (B. I. Newman Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
There are 68 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Sibel Onursoy

Publication Date June 25, 2018
Submission Date February 10, 2017
Published in Issue Year 2018 Volume: 18 Issue: 1

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APA Onursoy, S. (2018). Politicians’ Strategies Regarding Their Visual Representations in Media: June 2015 Turkish General Elections. Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 18(1), 29-48. https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.550761
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