Spurred on by Foley Scandal, 2006 Election Coverage Hits Fever Pitch

Contact: Matthew Felling, CMPA Media Relations, 202-223-2942, mfelling@cmpa.com

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 /Standard Newswire/ -- TV network news is covering this year's mid-term elections three times as heavily as in 2002, and the 2006 coverage exceeds the combined totals of 2002, 1998, 1990 , according to a new study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). The study also found that Rep. Mark Foley's messages to former pages have taken up 85 percent of election news since the scandal broke.

Major Findings:

Bigger Than the "Revolution": The first four weeks of this year's mid-term coverage has been more than three times as heavy as in 2002 and more than three of the last four off-year elections combined. The nightly network newscasts have broadcast 83 campaign stories, over four times the 20 they ran during the same time period of 2002, and eight times greater than the mid-terms in President Clinton's second presidency. (10 stories) The 2006 coverage is also 38 percent greater than that given the "Republican Revolution" mid-term election in 1994. (60 stories)

Fixated on Foley: Since the scandal involving Rep. Mark Foley's instant messages broke, 85 percent of election stories (23 of 27) been about the investigation and how the scandal will affect the balance in Congress.

Beyond the Foley Follies: After taking the Foley scandal coverage into account, however, the 60 remaining stories still equal the 1994 total and exceed the combined totals of 2002, 1998, and 1990.

"Macaca" Mania: Most stories paint with broad strokes, covering the nation's political climate and the parties' overall prospects. Among individual races, Virginia's Senate race stands out with 5 in-depth stories, due to a number of highly-publicized verbal gaffes by Republican incumbent George Allen. The only other contests to attract in-depth coverage are the Senate races in Missouri, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania - all with one story apiece.

ABC Leads The Pack: ABC's 32 stories accounted for 38 percent of the network election coverage in the four weeks after Labor Day. CBS devoted 26 stories (31 percent) to the mid-terms, while 25 stories were broadcast on NBC (30 percent).

These results are based on CMPA's scientific content analysis of election coverage on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news between September 5th and October 3rd. For information on our methodology, see www.cmpa.com.