There was an encouraging sign for two for of the Government’s campaign team in the newspaper and radio coverage this morning. The carefully planted previews of the announcements to be made by John Howard in his policy speech were featured prominently.

The good reception was not sufficient to outweigh the better coverage Labor received on television last night but it suggests that tonight the news will give the Coalition a much needed boost. Mr Howard and his team will be hoping for something like the lift they received right at the start of campaigning with the announcement of planned income tax cuts.

The policy speech offerings are unlikely to be as dramatic as that but a few days of people talking about Coalition plans will be a relief.

Coalition ALP
Television 0.61 1.54
Newspapers 0.21 0.02
Radio 0.34 0.26
Internet 0.17 0.00
TOTAL 1.32 1.81

You will find details of the way the Daily Verdict is compiled, with the help of raw material provided by our friends at Media Monitors, on the Crikey website.