Television and the Less-Interested Voter: The Costs of an Informed Electorate

Abstract

In pre-television American politics, electoral research documented that less-interested voters paid little attention to newspaper coverage of presidential campaigns. The result was that many Americans went to the polls possessing little information about the candidates and issues. Relying on evidence from a panel survey conducted during the 1972 presidential election, this article challenges the common belief that the widespread appeal of television news has changed this condition and made the low-interest voter much more informed about presidential elections. In fact, the evidence clearly shows that televised network evening newscasts contribute almost nothing to the low- interest voter's election information. But the evidence also shows that another channel of television communication does inform the less-interested voter—televised political advertis ing. Televised advertising not only reaches low-interest voters, but also teaches them useful, accurate, issue informa tion. So for a candidate to get his message across to all the voters, he cannot simply rely on free television news time; he must buy costly television advertising time. The implica tions for campaign financing are obvious.