Reports that two of the three major television network newscasts had the same lead story more than 90 percent of the time and that all three had the same lead more than 40 percent of the time. (FL)

On the premise that a gap has developed between the newsworthiness of the national political party conventions and the television network resources allocated to cover them, the three major networks' coverage of the 1980 Democratic and Republican national conventions was analyzed to document patterns that influence the networks' portrayal of party…