Since January of this year, the Community Media Center's Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) has analyzed over 160 stories in the local media on the 2006 elections as part of the organization's Election Watch 2006. While the media has provided coverage of a variety of different races including the gubernatorial race, the county commission races, and congressional races, as well as ballot initiatives—the majority of this coverage has lacked substance and has left critical questions about who finances candidates and campaigns unanswered. News coverage from Sunday, May 28 featured three news stories on upcoming elections that was typical of the type of coverage presented by GRIID on their Election Watch website, including one story that debates a candidate's name but says nothing about his platform, a very short quote from a GOP leader, and coverage of internal political disputes in the Michigan Republican Party.
GRIID's Election Watch also features analysis of political commercials aired this year, all of which have been aired by the DeVos campaign.
