10. Narratives and Optics: Communication Dynamics Political Leaders Face Today

In this chapter, we focus on the emerging language used by the contemporary media in their considerations of political leadership and what that language says about the situations leaders face today as they seek to transmit their messages to the public or to specific constituencies. Analysis of media coverage of leadership indicates that these leaders communicate through a combination of “narratives” and “optics” and that a tension exists between the two—to communicate messages/visions through “narratives” that use the words/stories to which we are bound or through images/videos that seek to move beyond words/stories. We conclude that leaders are moving increasingly toward the immediacy of “optics” to communicate messages but must inevitably resort to the more protracted messaging of language-bound “narratives.” Some thoughts are also offered about communication—by leaders but also in general—for the coming decades.