ABSTRACT
Discontent with press performance in reporting on Campaign '88 revealed itself even before the field of candidates took shape. As the "92 presidential campaign got under way, the experience of the last campaign was fresh in the minds of both the press and the candidates. Many of the public's reservations about coverage of Gennifer Flowers were shared by the press itself. Times Mirror conducted two surveys of the national press corps over the course of the presidential campaign. The role of alternative media in the campaign was another aspect of the 1992 presidential race that set it apart from 1988. Perot's re-entry into the race and the rail debates deflected much attention away from the "horserace" polling that has become such a staple of modern campaign coverage, as well as a major target for media critics. Growing numbers of people have come to believe that the press is often unfair in the way it covers national issues.
