Eric Massa's stem cell press conference was an interesting example of the difficulty of penetrating the Rochester media market. Massa's press conference was held at 10:30 a.m., which early enough to make the 6 o'clock news. However, it didn't make any of the three major network newscasts that evening. (I watched one and recorded two.) It might have made the one-hour pre-news newscasts, but it wasn't a "top story" for the day.
Since Rochester sits at the confluence of four congressional districts, a Member of Congress has to do something special to make the evening news. During the 6 o'clock newscasts, ads for the well-financed fight in the 26th district were the only time congressional candidates from any district were mentioned. The other political ads were utilized by Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Spitzer to help cement their 60+% leads, proving yet again that you can never be too rich, too thin, or win too big.
Since at least half of the registered voters in the 29th live in the Rochester media market, getting on the tube is important to both candidates. Judging from this media event, it will take more than a press release and a news conference.