Friday, October 13, 2006

Analysis: Political ads but scant coverage

Do you hate those political ads on TV? There are plenty of 30-second political ads favoring a particular candidate, but a mere 35 seconds of election coverage during a half-hour news broadcast in Cleveland or Columbus. The Midwest News Index shows more time spent on teasers and introducing news segments than on acutal election coverage..

The five-state analysis by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's NewsLab looked at 30-minute evening news broadcasts on 36 stations.

Studies show that most people rely on TV news reports to get most of their election information, but that they don't learn much from those reports, said Ken Goldstein, a UW-Madison political science professor who directs the NewsLab.

Go to our web site to see the report on the study along with a table showing how much time is spent on various subjects during a 30-minute broadcast.

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