Good Looks And Politics: Why TV News Needs Ideas and Not Sex Appeal

When then-Senator John F. Kennedy’s image was channeled into American homes in 1960 opposite Vice President Richard Nixon, his chiseled jaw and movie-star looks captured viewers’ attention and burgeoned in a new era in which physical appearance is a contributing factor to electability.

With televisions in their homes, Americans would now demand that their chief leader look the part as much as they could play it, adding an additional prism—sight—in which to assess their public servants. Unfortunately, like a prism, sight can distort and distract, from politicians’ ideas, rhetoric, and public records.

A new study suggests that cable news networks suffer from this same prism-effect, giving preferential news coverage to more “attractive” members of Congress. (The Atlantic Wire has some photos of the representatives considered most attractive in the report; let’s just say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.)

Conducted by two Isreali professors, Israel Waismel-Manor and Yariv Tsfati of the University of Haifa, the study asked non-American students to rate representatives (excluding presidential candidates and top leadership holders) based on attractiveness. They then compared the data to the frequency in which those representatives were covered by radio, print, and television media outlets.

The politicians students picked appeared regularly on television, but rarely on radio or in newspapers, according to the New York Times.

Being male, black, from a larger state, or having extreme points of view were also contributing factors for TV airtime frequency.

This trending bias toward beauty might be OK for casting top-model reality shows, where contestants are expected to be judged on aesthetics, but it shouldn’t be a factor when determining who gets top TV coverage. Especially when that coverage is supposed to help educate American citizens and help them decide who would best serve their interests in government.

Sure, television networks need to make tough choices in order to make their news offerings competitive. They also have ratings to consider and are staffed by human beings, who are just as susceptible to the Halo Effect as the rest of us.  

Jeff Greenfield, an author and political analyst, told the New York Times that it’s possible networks had “some unconscious tilt to better-looking guests.” But, he added, “not nearly as much as the full-tilt preference for anchors and news readers who set hearts, and perhaps other body parts, aflutter.”

In another study that examined the impact “sexualized” female anchors, researchers found male viewers were reportedly more likely to “pay attention” but yet they couldn’t digest what the anchor said. Female viewers paid more attention to sexualized anchors and retained the information.

Imagine presenting viewers with a “sexy” anchor and an attractive politician—based on these studies, your male viewers probably wouldn’t even remember what your coverage was about.

The studies are troubling, too, when considering the role political news coverage plays in American life. During the 2010 midterm elections, more than two-thirds—67 percent—of Americans got their campaign news from television, according to a Pew report. While the internet is gaining on TV’s lead, especially among young people, much of the video content is still produced or shaped by TV networks before being pushed online.

In an age where Americans still rely on TV to get most of their news, networks should make a conscious effort to provide access to representatives who will engage in thought-provoking dialogue on the issues Americans care about and not just boost ratings. Sex sells, but America wants to know what’s happening with the economy, job-growth, and the ever-ballooning student loan debt bubble.

The journalism industry is charged with strengthening democracy by educating the public. That means that, whenever possible, networks should be selecting TV candidates based on how handsome their ideas are rather than their physical attributes.

Naima Ramos-Chapman is an associate editor at Campus Progress.

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