Jeff Greenfield, interviewed by Liz Cunningham

About the author: Jeff Greenfield is a media critic and political analyst for the ABC News show Nightline. Formerly a speechwriter, he is the author of several books, including The Real Campaign. Liz Cunningham is the author of Talking Politics, from which this viewpoint is taken.

In 1992, the traditional media made a conscious decision to upgrade the quality of election and campaign coverage, and they were largely successful. However, neither the old media nor the new media were as important in determining the election results as were political and economic circumstances. For instance, Ross Perot's successfulness in the 1992 election was based more on his stance opposing "business-as-usual" politics than on the millions of dollars he spent on new media "infomercials." Elections always have been decided more on political ideology and...