ABSTRACT
The media consultants play a major role in political campaigns. While some argue that the impact of their media spots is minimal, such small percentages often make the difference between winning and losing an election. The primary tasks of a media consultant include development of the message, script-writing, and videography, editing, and spot buying. The secondary tasks include acting as a clearinghouse for campaign information involving polling, effectiveness assessment, and coordination of all communications to support campaign advertising. Today, all major political campaigns are media campaigns, dominated by media consultants who serve as an advertising agency for the political campaign. One issue that dogged media consultants for years was whether media campaigns had any effect on elections. The entire approach of the limited effects model argued that the media had little, if any, effect on elections. According to this approach, most voters have either partisan attitudes that will guide their voting decisions regardless of what political ads might be aired.
