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P2000. Occasional Reports, Notes and Commentaries on the Road to the White House |
| New Hampshire's
News Organizations in the Thick of the Primary Campaign
Copyright 1999 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action |
Back |
| Situated on the frontlines
of the primary campaign, New Hampshire's news organizations are well positioned
to provide their audiences with regular coverage of the candidates' comings
and goings. Two of the most prominent players in the Granite State
media mix are WMUR-TV Channel 9, the ABC affiliate, and the Union Leader
(Manchester).
WMUR, the only network affiliate in New Hampshire, is the "King of the North" when it comes to local television coverage of the primary. "MUR" operates out of a state-of-the-art facility in Manchester sometimes dubbed the "House that Forbes Built" because of the amount of money Steve Forbes spent running advertising during his 1996 campaign. WMUR does face competition from Boston stations and from upstart WNDS Channel 50 in Derry. The Union Leader is the only statewide paper in New Hampshire. It is known for its conservative editorial stances although these are NOT AS STRIDENT! as in the days when William Loeb ran the paper. In addition to the Union Leader there are other dailies around the state. On radio, New Hampshire Public Radio has perhaps the most in-depth news reporting. There are also talk shows such as NHPR's "The Exchange," "The Dan Pierce Show" on WGIR AM 610 (Manchester) and "Morning Attitude" which not infrequently feature the candidates. |
Here
are exclusive interviews with three leading New Hampshire media figures:
Joe McQuaid, general
manager and editor in chief of the Union Leader
Mike Pride, editor of
the Concord Monitor
Karen Brown, news director
at WMUR-TV
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Average Paid Circulation of New Hampshire
Daily Newspapers
For the six months ending
September 30, 1999.
| Daily | Sunday | |
| The Union Leader
Manchester (Hillsborough County) |
63,438 | New Hampshire Sunday News--85,414 |
| The Telegraph
Nashua (Hillsborough County) |
28,061 | The Sunday Telegraph--33,898 |
| Foster's Daily Democrat
Dover (Strafford County) |
25,027 | Foster's Sunday Citizen--30,417 |
| Concord Monitor
Concord (Merrimack County) |
21,310 | Sunday Monitor--23,150 |
| The Valley News
Lebanon-Hanover (Grafton County) |
17,618 | 17,519 |
| The Keene Sentinel
Keene (Cheshire County) |
14,590 | 13,521 |
| Portsmouth Herald
Portsmouth (Rockingham County) |
14,389 | 19,476 |
| The Citizen
Laconia (Belknap County) |
9,848 | Foster's Sunday Citizen--30,417 |
| Eagle-Times
Claremont (Sullivan County) |
8,263 | 9,308 |
Trends in Daily Circulation for the Top Four New Hampshire Newspapers
| 9/30/99 | 9/30/98 | 9/30/97 | 9/30/96 | 9/30/95 | |
| The Union Leader (Manchester) | 63,438 | 64,045 | 65,758 | 67,435 | 69,213 |
| The Telegraph (Nashua) | 28,061 | 28,863 | 28,759 | 28,299 | 29,362 |
| Foster's Daily Democrat (Dover) | 25,027 | 25,690 | 29,429 | 29,457 | 30,146 |
| Concord Monitor (Concord) | 21,310 | 21,674 | 22,006 | 21,920 | 22,008 |