"Newspapers are back," says Cathy Allen, a Democratic political consultant in Seattle.

Overall ad spend on campaigns doubled in the period between 2002 and 2006, up to $3.1 billion. But political ad spend on newspapers tripled in that same period, up to $104 million.

"Recognition is growing that newspapers are highly effective and highly cost-effective," says Jordan Lieberman, publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine.

Newspaper readers vote more than average. Couple that with the fact that online editions now reach ‘younger’ readers (under 40), and advertisers can reach demographic segments that aren’t typically good voters.

“Newspapers also allow for more sophisticated arguments than are delivered in the typical 30-second television campaign,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

On the other hand, polls have given contrasted results as to the effectiveness of newspapers. A poll last year by the e-Voter Institute asked about 200 political consultants to rank nine media by effectiveness: newspapers came in next to last, behind blogs, radio and mail.

But in other polls voters ranked newspapers as the most credible media for political messages, and third in terms of effectiveness, behind broadcast and cable television.

With less than 5% of total political ad spend devoted to newspapers, the latter are still far from the preeminence they enjoyed in pre-television times. Yet there is a growing market, and papers have some perks to take advantage of.

Source: Wall Street Journal