The Pew Center sponsored the poll to gauge the impact of "Your Voice, Your Vote," an unprecedented statewide effort by 15 news organizations to emphasize coverage of issues rather than personalities in the statewide races.

The survey indicates that the North Carolina voters who were aware of the project were more likely than other voters to say they made voting decisions based on the candidates' positions on the issues (56 percent vs. 46 percent).

Thirty four percent of those who recognized the effort said they felt better informed than in previous elections. Only 24 percent who did not recognize "Your Voice" said they felt better informed than in previous elections.

Of those aware of the effort, 38% felt there was more discussion of the issues in this campaign compared to previous campaigns; 26% of those unaware felt there was more issue discussion.

A solid majority (56%) of voters felt the media coverage of the U.S. Senate race between Sen. Jesse Helms and Harvey Gantt was balanced and fair.

The survey also found that the Helms-Gantt contest was viewed negatively by many voters, with solid majorities feeling that the election lacked a discussion of issues by the candidates and had more mud-slinging than the candidates' previous race in 1990.

Of those polled, 43% felt the media had about the right amount of influence on the election, while 41% felt the media had "too much influence." Another eight percent felt the media had "too little" influence.

Several of the North Carolina media partners said the recognition level was rewarding since there were 4 million registered voters in the state, whereas the combined circulation of all the newspaper partners was only 857,000. Moreover, the last "Your Voice" story appeared Oct. 13, weeks before the survey was taken.

Ed Fouhy, executive director of the Pew Center, said he was "happily surprised at the relatively high numbers of voters who recognized the project. The recognition and responses to 'Your Voice, Your Vote' after just one election cycle are very heartening to those of us who feel that traditional political coverage has too often excluded the public's voice."

"Your Voice" newspaper partners were The Charlotte Observer; The News & Observer of Raleigh; News & Record of Greensboro; Fayetteville Observer-Times; Asheville Citizen-Times; and the Morning Star of Wilmington. Television partners were WBYV, Charlotte; WTVD, Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill; WGHP, Greensboro-High Point; WLOS, Asheville; WWAY, Wilmington; and UNC's Center for Public Television (PBS). The radio partners were WFAE-FM, Charlotte; WUNC-FM, Chapel Hill; WFDD-FM, Winston-Salem.

The survey was released at the Pew Center's workshop in Annapolis.

The 600 registered voters were polled Nov. 11-13 by Frederick Schneiders Research, of Washington, D.C. The bipartisan survey was designed and analyzed by Greg Schneiders, a Democratic pollster, and Dan Casey, former Director of Research for the Republican National Committee. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

At a Dec. 4 meeting in Chapel Hill, the media partners voted to continue working together on a post-election civic journalism effort. The group elected two of its members to try to frame and coordinate a future venture.