Crosstalk: Citizens, Candidates, and the Media in a Presidential Campaign by Marion R. Just, Ann N. Crigler, Dean E. Alger, Timothy E. Cook, Montague [Page 147]Kern, and Darrell M. West was published in 1996. The book reports the results of an extensive research project on the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign. In the book, the authors contend that to understand a presidential campaign, one must understand the interaction among all of the major actors in the process, the candidates, the media, and the public.

The authors describe the various aspects of the campaign, with particular emphasis on the candidate's messages via their campaign commercials and the news media's presentation of the candidates' issues and personal qualities. Content analysis of a wide variety of media messages, newspapers, and ...