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We examined Ronald Reagan's 1980 election campaign to judge the effects of his Issue of the Day (IOD) media management strategy on his image as portrayed in the print and televised news media. The IOD strategy attempts to shape the content and tone of coverage by limiting press access to Reagan, formalizing the relationship, and conveying a single message over extended periods of time. Our analysis shows Reagan had success shaping the content of the press's coverage, but not its tone.We also found that the IOD strategy had greater effects on televised news programs than on the print media.Over the past two decades, the Issue of the Day (IOD) strategy emerged as a key tool candidates use to influence news coverage of their campaigns in order to shape their public image. The IOD strategy reduces the frequency and increases the formality of candidate contacts with the media while emphasizing a single issue over an extended period of time. It encourages the media to portray the candidate in terms preferred by the candidate.Much has been written about candidates' efforts to shape news reports, but we lack clear conceptual and empirical definitions of their strategy, and systematic tests of its impact. Our paper addresses these two issues. First, we discuss the concept of media management strategies by: (1) identifying the candidate and press goals and resources that shape the strategy; (2) describing the dimensions that constitute a media management strategy; and (3) identifying the specific positions along these dimensions that define the IOD strategy.Second, we examine the IOD strategy's effects on press coverage by: (1) identifying four versions of media management strategies used by Reagan in NOTE: This is a revised version of a paper presented at

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