Message Control Or 'Framing' Is Everything

Uncontrolled political conventions, in media spotlight, led to lost votes

For most of American history, political conventions were fascinating but chaotic events showing the messy innards of American democracy, complete with open conflict and party bosses making deals with each other and candidates in “smoke-filled rooms.”

After losing control of the images broadcast from conventions in the 1960s and 1970s, and therefore losing elections, party leaders in the 1980s began to take greater control of not only the images but the messaging. Nowadays, the conventions are produced like well-scripted television shows.

The short videos below trace political convention history back to 1831. I’ve embedded or linked to about a dozen videos from YouTube on political conventions going back to the first one in 1831. Total viewing time is about an hour.