![Sample our Communication Studies journals, sign in here to start your access, 2013 & 2014 volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5927/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Information-Science2.jpg"})
Abstract
This study uses a dramatistic and rhetorical approach in tracking the trail of influence used by one organization to influence media coverage of a controverserial policy issue. Using the lens of fantasy theme analysis, it examines the strategies of a publicity campaign developed to persuade opinion leaders and the public at large that casino‐style riverboat gambling should be approved in Iowa. Following the trail of influence from inception to outcome, it raises questions about the media's so‐called “gatekeeping” function, the role of rhetorical artistry in gaining desired news coverage, and the problems of muted and rhetorically unsophisticated dissident voices in public policy debates.