Political candidate ads appearing in local newspapers are rated as annoying by just 18% of registered voters, while ads appearing on local TV are seen as annoying by 54%, according to results of a survey released in February 2012 by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA). Network TV (50%), cable TV (43%), and radio (39%) ads are also rated annoying by a significant proportion of registered voters, though political ads on the internet (27%) garner the frustration of far fewer.

Younger Voters Less Annoyed
Younger voters display a lesser propensity to be annoyed by political ads in a variety of broadcast media. 49% of 18-34-year-olds say they find candidate ads on local TV to be annoying, compared to 58% of those aged 35-44 and 56% of those over 65. Voters over 65 are also 30% more likely to be annoyed by network TV ads than 18-34-year-olds (57% vs. 44%), 20% more likely to find internet ads annoying (30% vs. 25%), and 47% more likely to be annoyed by local newspaper ads (22% vs. 15%).

Interestingly, though, 18-34-year-olds are as likely as their counterparts over 65 to be annoyed by candidate ads on cable TV (both at 47%), and 37% more likely to be annoyed by radio ads (44% vs. 32%).

Local Papers Most Reliable for Civic Info
Meanwhile, local newspapers top the list of sources for accurate, in-depth coverage of political or civic issues with an impact on voters’ specific locality, rated reliable by 57% of respondents. Local TV stations (55%) closely follow, ahead of local radio stations (43%) and local websites (39%). Just 14% believe social media websites to be reliable sources of accurate and in-depth information about local civic issues.

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