Faculty Mentor
Jeremy Rud
Abstract
How have different media affected the linguistic performativity of the most prominent American politicians throughout history? How have different types of media allowed certain linguistic features to flourish, and others to fail? I address these question’s through a diachronic analysis of three different periods of American history as well as an investigation into effective linguistic features that manifest over the radio, through television, and on social media. In addition, I confront the myth that there is a relationship between reading level of speech determined by the Flesch-Kincaid algorithm and success as an orator. I find relationships between linguistic features unique to the media through which it is presented and conclude on how that affects the overall expertise of the candidate, but find no relationship between Flesch-Kincaid reading level and expertise.
Recommended Citation
Haaland, Connor J.
(2017)
"Political Success and the Media,"
The Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 15, Article 3.
Available at:
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/jur/vol15/iss1/3
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons