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October 13, 2004
News Coverage Has Little Impact on Voters
By Ken Sands, Spokane Spokesman-Review/Associated Press Managing Editors
The overwhelming majority of newspaper readers said in a recent survey that news coverage of the presidential race has either had no impact on their decision or simply affirmed their choice.
Readers also said they received their presidential campaign news from a wide variety of sources – including network TV news, cable TV news, national publications and their hometown newspapers.
But none of it made much of a difference for most people.
Gary Hesse, of Leavenworth, Wash., said the coverage has helped him to clarify which direction he already was leaning, but wishes the coverage focused on more than just a few key issues.
“That’s the choice of the campaigns, but it’s not sufficient to make a decision,” he said. “I wish there was more substantive discussion on a wide variety of issues.
Readers around the country were sent e-mail by their local newspaper asking them to respond to the survey questions. Nine out of 10 who responded said media coverage either affirmed their choice or had no impact. The remaining readers said coverage: left them confused and unsure of their choice; caused them to doubt their choice; or caused them to change their choice.
Susan Simmons, of Evans, Ga., was one of the few people left confused by the coverage. “I’m still on the fence here,” she said. “There’s too much caught up in the happenings of the day and not enough given to insights.’
For example, she wondered whether Bill Clinton really deserved the credit he claimed for the booming economy when he was in office.
“Presidents take credit for the good, and get blamed for the bad, but we need someone analyzing whether their policies had any effect on it.”
Barbara Heminover of Delavan, Wis., was one of the few readers who said campaign coverage actually had changed her mind about her likely vote.
“I was leaning toward John Kerry, but then I read some stuff on his wife and the holdings she has in another country,” Heminover said. “That’s my biggest thing. I don’t know why I should dwell on that, but I’m leaning toward Bush.”
Richard Quillin of Whitefish, Mont., said news coverage changed his mind about Kerry, too. “The news was unable to produce anything that John Kerry did in his 20 years as a senator,” he said. “I can’t get past the fact that he’s had that much service and has accomplished nothing.”
The survey also asked readers to list their primary source of news about the presidential election. There was no clear favorite among traditional media. And while 20 percent of readers indicated in a different question they have read online Web logs for political insight, few readers listed the Internet as a primary source of news.
The results of the survey are not scientific. The “Readers Speak” survey was conducted by the Associated Press Managing Editors’ National Credibility Roundtables Project.
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Subscribe READERS SPEAK
Part One: CBS, media and public trust
Part Two: Do Blogs Matter? Part Three: Local political news more trusted
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