Influence of traditional and non-traditional news media in the 1992 election campaign

The 1992 presidential election campaign marked the first time that non-traditional news media (e.g. talk shows) were employed as a prevalent form of campaign communication by the candidates. The present study employs a path analysis of panel data (N = 151) to assess the influence of traditional and non-traditional forms of news media in the initial phase of the presidential election campaign (i.e., early September) on the perceptions and attitudes of prospective voters both during the initial and the final phase (i.e., early November) of the campaign, as well as their voting intentions in the final phase. The results indicate that non-traditional media exert greater influence on the perceptions and attitudes during the initial phase. However, the influence of traditional news media in the initial phase demonstrates greater persistence, exerting greater impact on attitudes and voting intentions in the final phase of the campaign. The findings of this study document the impact of non-traditional news media, and contribute to the literature on media effects at different points of an election campaign.