Found considerable support for the hypothesis that voters who rely on television use candidates' image characteristics to make their voting choices more than do voters who rely on newspapers. Found little support for the second hypothesis that candidates' stands on issues will play a stronger role among voters who rely on newspapers. (PD)

A study investigated whether reliance on television rather than on newspapers affected the way people made voting decisions. Specifically, it focused on whether television reliance was associated with greater candidate image evaluation and newspaper reliance with greater issue importance in the prediction of voter preferences. Telephone interviews…

Research demonstrates that people are motivated to seek information on political issues for social utility, rather than to resolve private indecision or candidate choice. (RB)

Evaluates the 1976 presidential debates as an innovation in political communication formats that might overcome existing gaps in electoral participation between the more and less active sectors of society. Examines the equivalence of effects of debate-watching and related behaviors for different levels of age, education, and politial interest.…

Examines predictive patterns of traditional and nontraditional media forms on people's campaign interest and participation, information processing strategies, knowledge of candidates' positions, perceived votes for candidates, and issue salience. Finds nontraditional media had greatest impact on labile characteristics and weakest impact on…

It is widely accepted that the news media, especially in specific expressions of press opinion, have the effect of setting the agenda of issues in many political campaigns. The nature and extent of such agenda-setting is not yet established, although a study of two test newspapers tends to define further this effect. An analysis of the…

The "limited effect" model originated by Lazarsfeld is not sufficient for full analysis of the political influences effected by television advertisements for candidates for political office. Newer political communication research indicates that, in both British and American politics, television political commercials have eroded party…

The paper investigates whether the 1976 presidential debates contributed to political participation among all sectors of American society. Evidence was obtained from 353 eligible voters in Madison, Wisconsin, before and after the debates. Effects were evaluated by taking correlations between the level of respondents' exposure to the debates and…