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ORGANIZATION ISSUES MONEY/POLITICS NEWS INDEX |
Three Ohio TV stations in top ten percent
For release: February 5, 2001 COLUMBUS -- "According to a study released by the University of Southern California, three Ohio television stations rank in the top ten percent for the amount of time devoted to candidates and issues," Catherine Turcer, spokeswoman for Ohio Citizen Action, said today. The University of Southern California surveyed 74 stations across the nation to determine the amount of time devoted to candidate and issue discussion in the month prior to the election. WCPO in Cincinnati ranked third in the nation with just under four minutes, while WEWS in Cleveland earned seventh place, averaging just less than three minutes. WKRC in Cincinnati was right behind WEWS with two minutes and 44 seconds of candidate and issue discussion. In sharp contrast, WHIO in Dayton averaged only 21 seconds a night, placing it into the bottom ten percent. WBNS in Columbus did slightly better with 29 seconds. "The television stations that made a commitment to airing five minutes nightly of candidate-centered discussion fell short of their goal, but their viewers were three times more likely to hear directly from candidates," said Turcer. WJW in Cleveland provided 45 seconds, the national average for stations that did not make a commitment to improving the quality of candidate issue discussion. The committed stations also aired more issue-oriented coverage, 60 percent longer sound bites, and a slightly higher percentage of stories about state and local elections, according to the report’s author, USC Associate Dean Martin Kaplan. Last year, Ohio Citizen Action asked local television stations to open up the airwaves to nightly candidate forums and issue discussion prior to the election. This was part of a national effort led by the Alliance for Better Campaigns in Washington, DC. This project was co-chaired by former presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and former newscaster Walter Cronkite. A 1998 presidential commission on the public interest obligations of television developed the five minutes-a-night standard. This commission included broadcasters and civic organizations. Nationally, seven percent of television stations have committed to air five minute segments candidate-centered segments nightly for the thirty days prior to the election. In Ohio, WCPO, WKRC, and WLWT in Cincinnati, WEWS in Cleveland, WCMH in Columbus and WKBN in Youngstown have also pledged to air these nightly segments. WLWT, WCMH and WKBN were not included in the study. Ohio Citizen Action campaigns on issues form toxic waste and food safety to utility and insurance rates to political reform. A non-profit, non-partisan organization, Ohio Citizen Action was founded in 1975. # # #
Ohio Television Stations and Candidate-Issue Discussion
PROTOCOL DEVELOPED BY THE ANNENBERG SCHOOL AT THE USC
TO IDENTIFY CANDIDATE-CENTERED OR ISSUE FOCUSED SEGMENTS The Presidential Commission on the Public Interest Obligations of Television did not provide definitions for "candidate-centered discourse." The Annenberg School at the University of Southern California developed the protocol for this study: Using a stopwatch, coders record the total airtime for each political story. Total airtime is calculated as starting with the introduction by the news anchor and concluding when the story switched to another political race or another type of story. At minimum, "candidate-centered discourse" includes all the time that candidates were broadcast speaking. However, if a story is identified as issue based, ad watch, mixture of strategy and issue, coders determine the percent of time candidates spoke in the entire segment. If at least 30 percent of the total time was devoted to candidates speaking, the entire story is considered candidate-centered discourse. "Candidate-centered" discourse can also include anything that educates voters. In voter education stories, if representatives for election issues speak, this time is also considered "candidate-centered discourse." If representatives spoke for a minimum for 30 percent of the segment, the entire story is counted as candidate-centered discourse. One of the goals of the Commission was to improve the quality and quantity of political coverage. This system counts stories that are substantive by factoring in the framework that makes the story meaningful to the viewer. However, it only counts actually speech of candidates in strategy segments or only the speech is counted if less than 30 percent is devoted to candidate speech. |