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For the 3rd year in a row now the GR Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) has completed a 30-day study of local TV news election coverage. The following are the major findings of the study:
- All 3 TV stations failed to provide adequate information to viewers that would allow them to make an informed vote.
- Of the combined 45 minutes and 29 seconds of air time devoted to the primary elections, only 2 minutes and 21 seconds had candidates speaking, and 56 seconds of that total was about issues.
- For every election story given by the 3 stations combined there were 8.3 crime stories.
- Fox 17 had as many stories in the 30-day period on a Jerry Springer contestant accused of murder (5) as they did election stories (5).
- Channel 13 had more stories on the Mackinac Island power outage (8) than they did on the election (7).
- Channel 8 had almost as many stories about a shooting outside a Walker Street Party store (9) as they did about the elections (11).
- Of the 5 Kent County Commission races only 1 received any coverage – the Turner/Mayhue race.
- Comparatively, the Grand Rapids Press gave more stories about the elections (33) than all three stations combined (23).
- The election story with the highest combined air-time was the Hudsonville Alcohol ballot proposals – 9 minutes and 57 seconds.
2000 Primary Election News Coverage
(July 10 – August 7; 30 days prior to Primary Election Day)
| Date | Candidate/proposal | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WOOD TV8 | 7/11 | FH School Bond | :24 |
| 7/13 | Sheriff/signs | 1:18 | |
| 7/13 | Sheriff/signs | 2:03 | |
| 7/21 | Mayhue/Turner | 3:00 | |
| 7/21 | Mayhue/Turner | :44 | |
| 7/27 | Ottawa Co. Ballot Int. | 3:00 | |
| 7/27 | Ottawa Co. Ballot Int. | 3:00 | |
| 7/28 | Holland annexation | 2:40 | |
| 8/1 | Holland annexation | :30 | |
| 8/2 | Steele/Frushour | 2:50 | |
| 8/3 | Hudsonville Alcohol | 4:52 | |
| 8/4 | Kent Library | 4:14 | |
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| Total 25:35 | |||
| Date | Candidate/proposal | Time | |
| WZZM 13 | 7/11 | Kent District Library | :37 |
| 7/18 | Hudsonville Alcohol | 2:42 | |
| 7/25 | Sheriff candidates | :50 | |
| 8/4 | Vote preparations | 1:53 | |
| 8/4 | Vote preparations | :32 | |
| 8/7 | Primary primer | 1:32 | |
| 8/7 | Primary primer | 2:20 | |
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| Total 10:26 | |||
| Date | Candidate/proposal | Time | |
| WXMI Fox 17 | 7/25 | Sheriff Forum | :30 |
| 8/1 | Holland annexation | 2:07 | |
| 8/2 | Kent Library Mileage | 2:18 | |
| 8/3 | Hudsonville Alcohol | 2:23 | |
| 8/7 | Primary primer | 2:10 | |
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| Total 9:28 | |||
| Total time all 3 stations | 45:29 | ||
| Ch .8 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 17 | Total | |
| # of crimes stories | 76 | 74 | 43 | 193 |
| Walker St. Party Store | 9 | 7 | 2 | 18 |
| Jerry Springer/Contestant Murder | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 |
| Mackinac Island Power | 8 | 8 | 2 | 18 |
| Concord Crash | 6 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
| Lead Election stories | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total Election stories | 11 | 7 | 5 | 23 |
| Crime Story/Election Story Ratio | 7/1 | 10.5/1 | 8.6/1 | 8.3/1 |
| Channel | Candidate Voices | Public Voices | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 – Hudsonville alcohol | 11 sec. – against
10 sec. – for |
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| 8 – Turner/Mayhue | Mayhue – 29 sec. (0 issues) Turner – 29 sec. (0 issues) |
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| 8 – Polkton Twp. | 9 sec. – against 13 sec. – against 11 sec. – for |
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| 8 – Holland annexation | 12 sec. – for 20 sec. – against |
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| 17 – Holland annexation | 19 sec. – for 9 sec. – against 5 sec. – for |
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| 17 – Kent Lib. | 15 sec. – for 7 sec. – for 10 sec. – for on 1 undecided on 2 |
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| 8 – Steele/Frushour | Steele – 42 sec. (27 issues) Frushour – 61 sec. (29 issues) |
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| 17 – Hudsonville Alcohol (all on A) | no – 14 sec. yes – 6 sec. no – 8 sec. yes – 12 sec. |
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| 17 – Hudsonville Alcohol | A – yes – 17 sec. B – yes – 21 sec. |
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| 8 – Kent Library | yes – 22
yes – 46 |
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| Total time/Candidate Voices – 2:21(all on ch. 8) | |||
| Total time/Candidates on issues – :56 seconds (all on ch. 8) | |||
| Paid Ads for local Primary Races/Ballot proposals (during newscasts) |
| Channel 13 – 16 for Zemaitis (Kent Co. Probate Judge) |
| Channel 8 – 0 |
| Channel 17 – 0 |
| GR Press Primary Election articles | ||
| Date | Candidate/proposal | Inches/placement |
| 7/10 | Holland/Fillmore Tp | 18.5/B2 |
| 7/13 | Frushour/Steele | 7.5/B3 |
| 7/16 | Hudsonville Alcohol | 12/A25 |
| 7/17 | Ottawa Co. 89th St. Rep. | 29/B1-2 |
| 7/20 | Holland/Fillmore Tp. | 9/B2 |
| 7/20 | Allegan Co. Sheriff | 17/B3 |
| 7/21 | Vander Molen/signs | 14/C1-2 |
| 7/23 | Frushour/Steele | 33/A25 |
| 7/23 | Kent Co. Sheriff | 84/G1 |
| 7/24 | County Clerk | 20.5/B1-2 |
| 7/25 | local judicial races | 17/B1-2 |
| 7/26 | Kent Sheriff forum | 12/B1-2 |
| 7/26 | Gillem yard signs | 12/B1-2 |
| 7/26 | Voter Guide 20 pages content | |
| 7/27 | 16, 17 & 19 Co. Comm. | 26/B1-2 |
| 7/28 | Allegan Co. Sheriff forum | 15/C3 |
| 7/29 | $$ in campaigns | 36/A1,4 |
| 7/29 | State House race complaints | 6/A3 |
| 7/30 | Kent Probate Court | 42/A25-26 |
| 7/31 | Wyoming District Judge | 31.5/B1-2 |
| 8/1 | Ottawa drain comm. | 18/B3 |
| 8/2 | Hudsonville Alcohol | 11/B1 |
| 8/2 | Holland annexation | 9/B3 |
| 8/2 | Ottawa Co. Comm. | 20/B3 |
| 8/3 | Koetje/Karel State Rep. | 19/B1-2 |
| 8/3 | Holland Annexation | 11/B3 |
| 8/3 | $$ raised by GOP/Dems for State House races | 13/B4 |
| 8/4 | Probate Court | 16/C1-2 |
| 8/4 | Wyoming District Court | 14/C2 |
| 8/4 | Allegan Co. Sheriff | 16/C2 |
| 8/4 | Polkton Twp. Ballot | 15/C3 |
| 8/6 | Kent Dist. Library | 52/A1, 23 |
| 8/6 | Kent Co. Sheriff | 30/A25-26 |
| GR Press Editorial Endorsements | ||
| 7/10 | Stelma for Sheriff and Yes on Kent Library | |
| 7/30 | State House – Koetje, Newell, Vander Klock & DeVouyst | |
| 8/1 | County Clerk – Hollinrake, County Comm. – Turner, Shook, White, Mast & Morgan | |
| 8/3 | Holland Annexation, Senior Millage, Spring Lake Twp., Hudsonville Alcohol, Holland Twp., Park Twp. | |
| 8/4 | Kent Twp. Proposals | |
| 8/6 | short summary of most on the ballot | |
| Paid ads | ||
| 7/26 | Voter Guide – Krupp, full page & 1/2 pg. – Nevins, full page – Stelma, full page & 1/2 pg. – Schaefer, 1/2 pg. – Zemaitis, 1/2 pg. – Mast, 1/4 pg. – White, 1/4 pg. – Sherman, 1/4 pg. – VanderVeen, 1/4 pg. – Hollinrake, 1/2 pg. – TerMaat, 1/4 pg. – Mason, 1/4 pg. – Hillary, 1/2 pg. – Kelly, 1/2 pg. – Bowler, 1/4 pg.- Miller, 1/4 pg. – Winther, 1/2 pg. – Gillem, 1/8 pg. – York, 1/8 pg. – Rolls, 1/8 pg. – Baxter, full page | |
| 7/30 | Krupp 3/4pg. | |
| 8/2 | Bowler/Probate Judge A4-1/8pg | |
| 8/3 | Bowler/ A14 1/8pg., Stelma/ BB2 1/4pg., Hillary/ BB3 1/8pg., White/ BB4 1/8pg. | |
| 8/4 | Bowler C4 1/8 pg. | |
| 8/5 | Bowler A6 1/8 pg. | |
| 8/6 | Krupp, 3/4 pg. A13 – Bowler, 1/8 pg. A16 – Hillary, 1/8 pg. A20 – Stelma, 3/4 pg. A22 – Baxter, 1/2 pg. A26 | |
| 8/7 | York, 1/3 pg. A2 – Hollinrake, 1/2 pg. A5 – Hillary, 1/2 pg. A6 – Timmers, 1/8 pg. A9 – White, 1/8 pg. B3 – Bowler, 1/8 pg. B3, VanderKlok, 1/8 pg. B5 | |
Local TV News Election Coverage Principles
- Inform viewers/voters of all candidates, races, ballot proposals – and give them information on the issues not just on candidate personalities or where candidates are or what they might do.
- Any and all race/ballot proposals could be given at least some coverage, even if it is just a mention of who is running or what the proposal is.
- Follow the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Public Interest Obligation of Digital Television Broadcasters (also known as the Gore Commission), where for 30-days prior to elections broadcasters provide 5 minutes per night of candidate centered news. (see Alliance for Better Campaigns www.bettercampaigns.org )
- Cover third/independent party candidates.
- When showing presidential polls on the channel or web-site, give percentages for both Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.
- Viewers could be given information about voter guides that have been published.
- Produce video Voter Guides featuring all candidates in all races for multiple replays.
- All candidate forums could be announced for several days prior to the event.
- Candidate forums could be broadcast live or re-broadcast at a future time that would be announced.
- 5% of the money made from campaign ads could be donated by the stations to an independent, non-partisan organization to fill the void left by the League of Women Voters or to help resurrect the League.
- Financial funding of candidates should be reported on before and after all races. (How much and from what sources)
- Explore in more detail reasons for low voter turnout.
- Use station web sites for more detailed coverage.
- Operate in the public interest, convenience, and necessity.
