Evidence in recent years has linked a heavy dependence on television news with lower levels of knowledge about various aspects of the political system and negative evaluations of that system (political malaise). Three different sources of data on audience dependence on television news were used (1) to examine more closely the shift toward dependence on television for news, (2) to determine the linkage between needs and dependency, and (3) to determine changes in the linkage between needs and dependency over time. In general, the data supported the arguments that dependence emerges from the social fabric and individual needs, because both these types of variables were related to levels of dependence on the media. But such social classifications do not explain the identified shift to television dependence across time, indicating that there might be a period effect associated with the growth of the medium and corresponding increases in news programing. Any explanatory factor for the increased dependence on television will probably come from an examination of the needs of audience members. It may well be that audience members select television in part to avoid conflict, yet the conflict included in the news presentation of the medium is the very thing producing the frustration they experience. (RL)