2016 is a crucial year to the United States. As an election year, the country will see a new president take office next year to replace current president Barack Obama. In the time that I've been covering the political process for this class, it's become apparent just how important this year is as political tension is at an all-time high. Each candidate wishes to convey a particular image, and it's up to them to essentially work in tandem with the media in order to produce stories they feel will best sit with the American public. In order to do so, key concepts must be kept in mind, as each person they attempt to reach out to will have a different way of viewing the world. Three such concepts we utilized this semester were framing, narrative, and field research.

Framing

Due to the complexity of the election process, it's near impossible to pick one angle in order to accurately describe how each candidate is faring within the context of the race. Thus, the media uses a concept known as framing in order to deliver each story. A frame represents one piece of the bigger picture, and by combining as many of them as possible do we really get a feel for what's going on. Our main focus was on four different frames: the candidate's position in the horse race, conflict between candidates, foreign affairs, stances on the issues, and candidate attributes. Any single one of these frames gives the barest of ideas as to how the candidates are doing, but by combining as many of them as possible, we get not just a feel for where they stand according to delegates, but also what they represent and whom.

Narrative

Narrative is the story the candidate wishes to portray to the public. With the help of public relations and ghost writers, the candidate can portray themselves as possessing particular attributes in the public eye, be it likability, articulation, selflessness and strength, which are all only a small portion of the possible aspects any candidate can give off.

Field Research

In order to provide the best possible story, it's up to the reporter to do his/her research. This means speaking with constituents, attending rallies, interviewing candidates and being informed through past articles in order to stay knowledgeable on the subject matter. Without any background, the story comes across with much bias and little information useful to the reader. Only by gathering all of the details can this be avoided.

The projects were plenty, including three news articles and three APA style content analysis papers. Each assignment was spread over three different groups I was assigned to.

In the first article, my group and I spoke of the presence of minorities at the Donald Trump event held at the Georgia World Congress Center. My colleagues and I spoke to various constituents of various ethnic backgrounds on their views and support of Mr. Trump. These people did not make up the majority of attendees, but were either supportive or open-minded to the idea of a Republican candidate, if not Mr. Trump.

Bianca Shelby attends a Donald Trump rally in Atlanta. Shelby is one of many
minorities present who are registered Republicans. Gabriel Ramos, Feb. 21, 2016

In the second article, we spoke of Clinton's rally at Atlanta City Hall, which was partially intended to encourage early voters to attend the polls. Many of Clinton's constituency were younger, with many traveling from neighboring states just to provide support. 

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
addresses constituents at Atlanta City Hall Friday.
Gabriel Ramos, Feb. 26, 2016

In the third article, my group looked into the remaining candidates in the race, and the reasons for their longevity. We spoke with Dr. Kerwin Swint, head of the Political Science program at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw City Councilman Jimmy Dickens, and Roland Kier, and African American constituent who was a political science major in college. Each had very interesting ideas to share regarding all of the remaining candidates.

Our content analysis papers were of a different nature, and were meant to explore the psychological and communications side of the political race. In the first one, my teammates and I compared the methods used by Drs. Rand Paul and Ben Carson, who are no longer in the race for the Republican candidacy. Although both have a background in medicine, both used different methods in establishing themselves as candidates: Dr. Paul preferred to use his time as a senator and politician to his advantage, while Dr. Carson spoke of his medical achievements and his lack of time as a politician.

The second content analysis paper explored the importance of minorities to Hillary Clinton's campaign. The former Secretary of State is a Democrat, and as such relies heavily on minority votes in order to build up her constituency. Here, we utilized interviews and rhetorical analysis to provide insight as to how Mrs. Clinton is able to connect with her voters.

The third content analysis paper focused on framing as a concept. Here, we looked into 50 articles split between Fox News and CNN to get a feel and focus on how well these sources were able to deliver stories based on the various frames. Fox News was more inclined to show conflict between candidates, while CNN was more likely to focus on a candidate's stance on foreign policy.

As we explored the above concepts, it was easier to understand the perspectives available on the intersection of political communications and American politics. The various people we spoke to gave us a wide variety of angles, both conservative and liberal, from which to look at the race. Along the way, it was only through speaking to so many people and following along with various news sources that we were able to develop high quality research projects in regards to the American election process. By understanding different frames and narratives along with different voter perspectives, we were able to produce high quality articles that gave a unique angle to the reader. As a journalist, it was important that I focused more on the opinion of the interviewee and the events covered than it was to be subjective in order to remain respectful of the political communications process.