THE NEW NEWS AND THE 1992 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN - PERCEIVED VS ACTUALPOLITICAL KNOWLEDGE

Nontraditional news coverage, tile so-called new news, emerged as a ma jor factor in the 1992 presidential campaign. Little is known, however , about whether attention to the political content of such programs in forms the public or simply provides the perception of being informed. Analysis of survey data reveals that attention to MTV and late-night p rograms is either unrelated to or negatively impacts campaign knowledg e. Attention to talk shows is positively related to knowledge. While r espondents perceive themselves as being informed by talk shows, for th e less educated such attention is unrelated to campaign knowledge.