General elections - scale of media coverage

Trends in public attitudes 1983-2001

Newspapers

Q. How do you feel about the amount of coverage the newspapers have been giving to the election campaign?

  1983 1987 1992 1997 2001*
  %  % % % %
Much too much 18 30 34 20 17
A little too much 18 22 22 21 20
About the right amount 46 35 32 41 48
A little too little 3 2 1 2 3
Much too little 1 1 * * 1
No opinion 12 9 10 16 12
Base: c. 1,000-1,200 GB adults aged 18+ being re-interviewed as part of a panel survey *in 2001, asked post-election as "Q. How do you feel about the amount of coverage the newspapers gave to the election campaign?"

Television

Q. And how do you feel about the amount of coverage given to the election campaign on television?

  1983 1987 1992 1997 2001*
  %  % % % %
Much too much 24 49 45 29 18
A little too much 26 22 23 24 20
About the right amount 40 24 27 37 51
A little too little 2 2 2 1 3
Much too little 1 * * 1 1
No opinion 6 3 3 8 7
Base: c. 1,000-1,200 GB adults aged 18+ being re-interviewed as part of a panel survey *in 2001, asked post-election as "Q. How do you feel about the amount of coverage television gave to the election campaign?"

Radio

Q. And how do you feel about the amount of coverage given to the election campaign on the radio?

  1983 1987 1992 1997 2001*
  %  % % % %
Much too much 4 12 13 8 2
A little too much 4 6 8 4 3
About the right amount 25 30 32 33 31
A little too little 3 3 4 3 4
Much too little 2 2 2 1 1
No opinion 61 46 41 51 58
Base: c. 1,000-1,200 GB adults aged 18+ being re-interviewed as part of a panel survey *in 2001, asked post-election as "Q. How do you feel about the amount of coverage radio gave to the election campaign?"

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