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This paper studies the persuasive power of mass media during an election campaign. Using the availability of a three-wave rolling panel from the UK election campaign in 2005 and matching respondents with content analysis data from commentary in newspapers they read, we are estimating the impact of political slant on party and leader evaluations. Controlling for socioeconomic factors and partisan predispositions, and employing a growth model for change (and additional analysis with a fixed effects model), it is established that praise and criticism in the press positively affects feelings towards a party or leader, while indicating that Labour and the Conseratives, as well as their leaders, may also benefit substantially from criticism of their direct opponents. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public perceptions of a country's economic situation are an important factor in political attitude and behaviour research. It is generally acknowledged that mass media are an important source of information about the state of the economy. This study poses the question whether mass mediated portrayals of the economy on the one hand reflect economic reality, and on the other hand affect citizens' perceptions, both on a macro and micro level. Relying on a cross-national comparative framework, our analyses show that the tone of the news in newspapers is linked to the real economy. The tone of the news on TV was substantially less negative than in newspapers, and was not linked in a meaningful way to economic reality. Our study shows clear evidence of media effects, also when controlling for objective indicators of economic reality. Exposure to positive economic news in newspapers is positively related to favourable economic assessments. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]