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Explores how attention to TV news impacted affective evaluations of US presidential candidates during the last two months of the 1992 campaign, using National Election Study data (N = 1,703 respondents). Analyses indicate that attentiveness to campaign news significantly influenced evaluations in a manner consistent with the tone of news coverage for each candidate. By disaggregating the data by party & ideology, however, this effect was found to be conditional, depending critically on the character & intensity of political predispositions. The interplay between political predispositions & the valence of network coverage is emphasized, underscoring the contingent effect of media messages. The importance of partisan reinforcement as a major consequence of news media reception during the campaign is discussed. 4 Tables, 2 Figures, 1 Appendix, 70 References. Adapted from the source document.