Quanto ha contato la comunicazione politica?

During the last decade, political communication (particularly through television) has become a key issue in Italian politics. It has been argued by politicians and observers that partisan bias in the broadcasts of the two major networks operating in the country has had a strong influence in the outcome of elections. This article presents evidence pertaining to this controversy collected in the course of 2001 campaign. Analysis of television programs with data from the archive of the Political Communication Observatory at Pavia shows that the public network (Rai) and Mediaset channels did differ in terms of the amount of "visibility" granted to the leaders of the two major electoral coalitions. Analysis of survey data from the archive of the Ispo institute shows the existence of a fairy strong association between voting choices and viewing preferences for the various channels. In the last section of the article, the authors present alternative models of the linkages between selective exposure to different sources and political preferences.