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Content-coded network newscasts are used to examine the relationship between news coverage and the daily New Hampshire poll standings of the four major Democratic presidential candidates in the weeks before the 2004 primary. The study finds powerful network news effects, particularly with respect to horse-race reports on which candidate was gaining or losing ground, for John Kerry, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and John Edwards. The influence of network news coverage on New Hampshire tracking poll standings casts doubt on claims by those who support New Hampshire's status as the first primary because the state is thought to differ from the media-dominated electoral contests found elsewhere in American politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content-coded network newscasts were used to examine the relationship between news coverage and the daily New Hampshire poll standings oral Gore and Bill Bradley; the two major Democratic presidential candidates, in the weeks before the primary. The study found powerful network news effects, particularly with respect to "horse race" reports on which candidate gained and fell back but also with respect to televised evaluations of more substantive matters such as character and issue positions. The results cast doubt on claims by those who support New Hampshire's status as the nation's first primary because the state is thought to differ from the media-dominated electoral contests found elsewhere in American politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Content-coded network newscasts were used to determine the importance of news coverage to the poll standings of leading candidates in the 1992 New Hampshire Democratic Primary. It was found that "horse-race" coverage mattered much more than reporting on more substantive matters, such as a candidate's capacity to be president. This was particularly true for Bill Clinton, who suffered an "antibandwagon" effect from the predominantly negative coverage he received. The findings here raise questions about whether there really is anything special about the New Hampshire primary. The state's 1992 Democratic primary differed little from the television-dominated contests seen elsewhere in American electoral politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]