Masters Theses

A. Ann Norris

Date of Award

8-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Dan Nimmo

Committee Members

Herbert H. Howard, Darrel W. Holt

Abstract

Most Americans receive most of their news from television, and the actual number of persons using television as their primary source of news and information grows every year. It is not surprising, there- ' that communications scholars have conducted content analyses of television news and public affairs programming at an increasing rate.

An especially fruitful form of content analysis called fantasy theme analysis was developed by speech communications scholar Ernest Bormann in the 1970s and has since been applied to the study of television by Bormann, Dan Nimmo and others. The thesis of this study is that fantasy themes develop in group discussions on public affairs television programs, and that content analysis can uncover those fantasy themes.

As opposed to other forms of content analysis, fantasy theme analysis does not depend upon the counting and quantification of content. Rather, fantasy theme analysis uses rhetorical criticism to look at the deep, underlying meanings in the manifest content of group discussions.

This study is a fantasy theme analysis of the public affairs television program "Washington Week in Review" for the first 100 days of the Reagan administration. "Washington Week in Review" is a one-half hour long show that appears weekly on the Public Broadcasting System. Four "major" print journalists make up the panel, and discussion revolves around the "major" news events of the week just passed. The first 100 days of the Reagan administration were chosen because of the attention given to this particular period of time in a new presidential administration by scholars and journalists since the days of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Fantasy themes that developed on these 15 "Washington Week in Review" programs included themes about the Reagan persona, or public mask of the individual, and about Reagan's domestic and foreign policies.

Themes of the persona showed that the panelists viewed Ronald Reagan as: the "Great Communicator" who could hold the nation spell bound during televised speeches and who could persuade almost anyone to his point of view if allowed to speak; the "Great Politician" who knew exactly when to twist arms and when to offer tickets to Kennedy Center; the "Tough Guy" who looked for a war he could win so he could declare it; and "Superpatient," the man whose body was 20 years younger than its chronological age and who walked away from a close brush with death smiling.

The themes of the two political parties were Biblical in nature. The "Disorganized Democrats" were lost and leaderless, like the ancient Israelites, and would wander in the political wilderness until they found a modern Moses to lead them. The "Republican Invincibles" were modern Christian Soldiers, marching to victory after moral victory.

The foreign policy themes that developed were "Just Like Vietnam," which cast El Salvador in the role of today's Tar Baby; "Hardball," which was the name of the foreign policy game Reagan was playing against the Soviets for control of the world; and "Disarray," which took place when Reagan's White House and Secretary of State Alexander Haig squabbled over control of foreign policy.

Domestic policy had four predominant themes. "It'll Never Fly" reflected the panelists' belief the proposed 30 percent tax cut would never get through Congress; the "Battle of the Budget" had Democrats and Republicans engaged in trench warfare over the development of the national budget; "Tough Medicine" was what the country would have to swallow to cure its economic ills; and "Social Armageddon" was what would ensue if Reagan got all his requested budget cuts to social programs.

Two shorter themes were also identified. These were "Moonraker," the portrayal of the Space Shuttle as right out of James Bond; and The System Worked," which was the perception of government's actions after the attempted assassination of Reagan by John Hinkley.

This study showed that fantasy themes develop in group discussions on public affairs television programs, and that those themes can be detected using the method of fantasy theme analysis as modified and applied here. This study also shows the underlying messages received by viewers of that particular television program during the time period studied.

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