Voter Learning in the 1996 Presidential Election: Did the Media Matter?

This study examines the relationships of exposure and attention to various news media with information learned about the issue positions of 1996 U.S. presidential candidates Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and Ross Perot; level of interest in this election campaign; and intention to vote among 534 adult residents of Indiana during late October and early November of 1996. Contrary to previous studies of voter learning in U.S. presidential elections, this survey finds statistically significant associations only between the media measures and campaign interest, but not between media exposure/attention and knowledge of candidate issue positions or likelihood of voting, after controlling statistically for various demographics and level of interest in the campaign. Possible reasons for these markedly different findings for 1996 are discussed.