Pros And Cons Of Narrowcasting

Narrowcasting is defined as transmitting targeted messages to segmented or selective audiences (Lecture #16). It has become a critical feature of the president's “Going Local” strategy because of significant changes in the political context; in other words, in the post-broadcast era, narrowcasting is an effective communication method by which the President can gain leverage. Today’s political context largely consists of polarized parties and fragmented media, which deems broadcasting messages ineffective in rallying the public to pressure members of the Congress to support the President. When employing narrowcasting the President primarily targets three subsets: their party base, interest groups, and localities in order for these groups to …show more content…
Presidents do this by strategically visiting certain localities, which they decide upon by focusing on “swing” districts and places where the President is already popular (Lecture #15). Not only is the mere arrival of the President big news for the localities he visits, but he’s guaranteed to receive local television and newspaper coverage. Specifically, the President wants to ensure he has local newspaper coverage because “they still command a relatively large audience; they are still highly respected, especially compared with the national news media; and they present measurable amounts of news on the president, especially in comparison to local television” (Cohen, Ch. 4, pg. 71). Besides visiting localities, the President can also gain support from segmented national television viewers by going on national television shows, particularly those with “soft” interviewers as well as programming with demographically distinct audiences (Lecture #16). For instance, during Bill Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign he went on MTV, the Arsenio Hall Show, and the Phil Donahue Show to appeal to the youth, African Americans, and stay at home Moms/Seniors, respectively (Lecture