Study Says TV Helped, Hurt Jackson in ’84

Television helped the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984 by portraying him as a legitimate presidential candidate but hurt him by assuming he could not win, a problem also likely to mar his 1988 campaign, a study concluded Wednesday.

“Being a significant candidate is not the same as being a potential nominee,” C. Anthony Broh said at a news conference to promote the study--an analysis of 2,189 evening news clips from ABC, NBC and CBS from Nov. 1, 1983, until July 19, 1984, when Walter F. Mondale received the Democratic nomination.

The problem was that few people thought a black candidate could win in 1984, said Broh, a Princeton University political scientist. The study was financed by the nonprofit Joint Center for Political Studies, which conducts research on issues involving black Americans.

Jackson’s image was enhanced by TV news because he was portrayed as a leader and spokesman for a large bloc of people, a legitimate critic of the incumbent Republicans and generally as “a participant in Democratic procedures,” Broh concluded.

Jackson was hurt because TV news never portrayed him as a serious contender in so-called horse race stories about who was on track for the Democratic nomination, Broh said.

The underlying reason, Broh said at a news conference, was that Jackson is black.

Based on coverage so far of potential 1988 candidates, Broh said television is struggling with the issue of how to treat Jackson this time around. “If Jesse Jackson were white, I’m convinced he would be called the front-runner today,” Broh said.

CBS News spokesman Tom Goodman said the network is planning to study Broh’s analysis. ABC and NBC spokesmen could not be reached for comment.