No small-town poll - Public attention to network coverage of the 1992 New Hampshire Primary

Content-coded network newscasts were used to determine the importance of ne ws coverage to the poll standings of leading candidates in the 1992 New Ham pshire Democratic Primary. It was found that "horse-race" coverage mattered much more than reporting on more substantive matters, such as a candidate' s capacity to be president. This was particularly true for Bill Clinton, wh o suffered an "antibandwagon" effect from the predominantly negative covera ge he received. The findings here raise questions about whether there reall y is anything special about the New Hampshire primary. The state's 1992 Dem ocratic primary differed little from the television-dominated contests seen elsewhere in American electoral politics.