TUNING OUT POLITICS : CAMPAIGN TELEVISION COVERAGE FILLS IN THE HOLES AROUND CRIME, ACCIDENTS, SPORTS AND WEATHER. THE MAYOR'S RACE LIKELY WILL BE CONTESTED BETWEEN NEWS STORIES, NOT DURING THEM.

Byline: Jolene Kiolbassa

IF you were to depend solely on local television, you would not be able to tell that in less than two months, Los Angeles citizens will go to the polls to decide whether to re-elect Richard Riordan or to give his job to Tom Hayden.

On Feb. 18, 1997, Riordan stated his intention to run for a second term against already-declared candidate Hayden. It might be expected that this would be a high-profile contest between incumbent Riordan and a familiar political figure from the '60s, Hayden, a state senator. No. Local stations began their newscasts with Elizabeth Taylor's planned brain surgery and the shooting of a fugitive. Segments about two fatal fires, high winds, high surf and a graffiti-related shooting, among other stories, were aired on the seven VHF stations before the Riordan campaign kick-off. The earliest Riordan's announcement appeared was 10 minutes into KNBC's 4 p.m. broadcast (with 20-second voice over); the latest was 33 minutes into independent Channel 13's 10 p.m. news. One afternoon newscast did not carry the mayor at all. (The Los Angeles Daily News, in contrast, ran a front page story.)

This focus away from local politics is not new. In 1992, Los Angeles stations averaged 4.5 stories per month on the two Senate races. Local reporters virtually ignored an unprecedented ``made-for-TV'' matchup, with two female Democratic nominees squared off against male Republican candidates running for two Senate seats. Overall that year, there was not much news about any election, from the president down to municipal propositions, on local airwaves. During the month of March, for example, KNBC aired 151 crime stories, including trials and jurisprudence, while the total of all political stories, not just those about the presidential and Senate elections, numbered 55. Campaign coverage filled in the holes around crime, accidents, sports and weather.

A major factor in not covering politics is the paramount role of market research. In 1992, for example, KNBC made a decision not to cover elections. Its consultants, Magid Associates, told the station that polls showed that people were turned off by ``politics.'' Politics - a vague term meaning nothing when asked in a telephone survey, but actually a major part of such diverse topics as health care, planes taking off at Santa Monica Airport, crime and gays in the military. When market research costing $1 million a year asserts that people are not interested in politics, then gut instinct goes by the wayside.

As a footnote, the only debate between Riordan and Hayden is scheduled for March 13, sponsored by Continental Cablevision. The cable outlet has offered the debate to local broadcast stations, but so far there have been no takers. This means that if they are lucky, the candidates will receive 20 seconds of air time on the local news that evening.

Since Los Angeles' mayoral and other candidates are not covered by local television news, they must initiate their own coverage - ads. In 1992, for instance, the Los Angeles airwaves were inundated with Senate ads, which overshadowed campaign coverage on the evening broadcasts. In an ironic twist, some newscasts carried as many as seven Senate ads during commercial breaks, yet did not carry a single Senate story within the newscast. This spring it is likely that the mayor's race will be contested between news stories, not during them.

Lack of television coverage and the need to rely on advertising, create a domino effect on the nature of campaigning itself. Political candidates must raise several million dollars each to afford advertising in high-cost media markets such as Los Angeles. Contenders must devote a large portion of their time to fund raising - dealing with moneyed backers - instead of meeting voters. Candidates do not appear at campaign rallies - they appear at fund-raisers. In the Los Angeles area, pursuit of political office is out of range for everyone but the best politically - and financially - connected few.

It cannot be said that local television news content should not concern us so much, that people receive their information from other sources. Evidence shows that local news ratings have increased as newspaper readership has dropped and circulation has become stagnant. More people watch local news than network news. It is unlikely, therefore, that citizens read about Riordan's re-election plans in the next day's newspaper.

Coverage of the mayor's race begs a broader question: Perhaps newscasts determined by market research is not the best for a democracy. News crafted for the lowest common denominator audience obviously leads to large gaps in our understanding of the political process. Is there a link between the low turnout of the voting age population and the lack of information about candidates and issues?

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) RIORDAN

(2) HAYDEN