There is growing interest in how much a political candidates' media skills, sometimes referred to as 'charisma', are critical to their electoral success and political survival. According to one hypothesis, the effects of media skills might be so strong, that actors who do not posses media skills quickly vanish from the political arena. However, while many believe that media skills are an important aspect of getting elected, few have actually tried to measure their effects. Part of the reluctance no doubt stems from methodological difficulties in measuring them. In this study we look more directly at the media skills that are likely to play an important role in the electoral competition and suggest a new methodology for measuring such skills. Findings are presented that show that media skills can have an important impact on long-term electoral success of Israeli members of the Knesset. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on exposure of 54 members of the Israeli Knesset, competing for media coverage. Tangibly, political power provides legislators with the ability to create newsworthy events, access to important and interesting information, and easy access to reporters, who routinely cover the offices the powerful legislators hold. Other variables that have been linked to leaders' publicity can be categorized under the heading of "media skills." The studies demonstrate that media coverage of legislators is influenced by more "macro" variables, such as the political and media cultures in which the competition over publicity is taking place and changes in the political environment.

This study proposes a number of theoretical and methodological innovations in an attempt to better understand how legislators compete for media coverage. We make a distinction between those variables that determine the potential newsworthiness of a legislature (production assets) and those that are related to the political and media environment in which the legislators operate (news opportunities). We then put forth five hypotheses and test them by examining the political standing, charismatic communication skills, and radio exposure of 54 members of the Israeli Knesset. The results confirm that political standing and charismatic communication skills are important predictors of media exposure and that the relative importance of these factors changes during different political seasons.