ABSTRACT
Kurtz attributes Bill Clinton's success to a highly effective team that effectively influenced press coverage to the president's advantage. Their primary techniques were the use of controlled leaks, carefully worded briefs, and avoidance of some questions. Simple techniques, really, but ones that allowed the Clinton administration to control the scope and coverage of news stories. The skills developed by candidates such as Clinton and Barack Obama took decades to develop. They build on a media tradition that included, in its early stages, the "fire-side chats" of President Franklin Roosevelt. Perhaps the single most important factor influencing coverage of a candidate is the credibility of the candidate. With only rare exceptions, news organizations provide little coverage to candidates whom they perceive as having little chance of winning an election. Experienced candidates may find their pet issues are overlooked in favor of other issues that have grabbed and kept the media's attention.
