Virginia's Invisible Candidate

Abstract

This study examines the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial campaign to see how the state's newspapers covered a third-party candidate in a year in which voters said they were looking for an alternative to the Democrat and Republican. The study found that the third-party gubernatorial candidate received significantly less news coverage than the Democrat and Republican, even though he had strong favorability ratings while the major-party nominees were highly unpopular. The Democrat and Republican were mentioned more frequently in stories, headlines, and leads; they were quoted more often; and their issue positions were discussed more frequently than were those of the Libertarian. The study supports critical studies theory that the mainstream news media protect established power rather than acting as a conduit through which citizens can learn about all of their choices in an election.