VOTER LEARNING IN THE 1990 OFF-YEAR ELECTION - DID THE MEDIA MATTER

This study measures how much voters in one Midwestern city and state learned about the issue positions of two 1990 U.S. Senate candidates, and what images of these candidates they formed from campaign coverage and other information. Contrary to popular wisdom that describes 1990 off-year election news coverage as superficial, this study suggests that radio news, televised ads and regional newspapers were significant sources of information about the candidates' stands on issues for residents of Bloomington, Indiana. For Indiana residents in general, viewing TV ads and paying attention to newspaper coverage of the U.S. Senate campaign were significant predictors of knowing more about the candidates' issue positions. Media exposure and attention measures, however, generally were not significant predictors of candidate images.