Louisiana State University MC 4095 History and Political Communication An Introduction

Louisiana State University MC 4095 History and Political Communication An Introduction History and Political Communication: An Introduction DAVIDMICHAELRYFE This essay introduces aseries ofarticles that exploretherelation ofhistorytopoliticalcommunicationresearch.Itisshownthatas afield of study political communication hastended toignore historicalmethodsandsensibilities.This tendency istraced to thefield’srootsinsocialpsychology, politicalscience,and earlymasscommunication research.However,although politicalcommunication tendstoignore historicalresearch, it often depends uponimplicit,unquestionedhistoricalnarratives.Thus, amore robusthistorical imagination is encouraged notonlybecause it may produce more and better historical research,but also because it may assist in the developmentoftoolsforreflectingon theway political communication already deploys historical narratives. Keywordshistory,methodology, narrative,politicalcommunication Ifthere has been a “return to history” inthehuman sciences, analystsof political communication apparently have missed their cue (McDonald, 1996). Histories of politics andpolitical communicationare written.Some ofthebestofthiswork isrepresentedby the three contributors to this issue. And there are vibrant historicalliteratures in fields contiguous to political communication, such as rhetorical studies, journalism history, mediahistory, cultural history, and politicalsociology. Buthistory—defined broadly as aneffortto understand behavior,actions,and/oreventsincontext—isnot an institutionally recognized interest of politicalcommunication as a field of study. Its journals do not typically include historical work, and its self-identified practitioners do not recognizehistoricalmethods astheir own. This is evident in a number of ways. For instance, in the last ten years the three flagship journals of communication, politics, and political communication (American PoliticalScienceReview,Journal ofCommunication,andPoliticalCommunication)have published a total of ten historical essays (six in Political Communication,four in Journal of Communication, and none in American Political Science Review). Similarly, a brief search of ComAbstract,one of the most widely used computer databases in communication, found 1,507 articles spanning several decades coded under the keyword “politicalcommunication.” Of these,only two used historicalmethods or asked historical questions. 1 At leastas defined by journal editors and writers, and despite the fact David MichaelRyfe isAssistantProfessorofJournalismatMiddle Tennessee StateUniversity. Address correspondence toDavidMichaelRyfe, Schoolof Journalism,Box64,Midd