Demand coverage!

A new study shows that most Wisconsin local news programs (remember, local news is where most Americans get their news) devoted 36 SECONDS of political coverage per broadcast and that only 23% of that 36 SECONDS is about the actual issues. The rest of the time was spent on "horse race" coverage.

Contact your local media and ask them to correct this. Challenge them to provide at least 2 minutes per night of real news about election issues - where do candidates stand, what are the consequences of candidates' positions, what have candidates' past records shown, etc. - from now until November 7.

WXOW (19) News director, Sean Dwyer
WKBT (8) News director, Anne Paape

Ask how much time their normal news broadcast devotes to covering and helping citizens participate in our democracy. For more info on the Joyce Foundation report, http://www.joycefdn.org/pubs/content/pubs-newslab.html