Just, et al. look at which candidate advertisements were aired in each area and also analyze the campaign news in each area. Larger markets have larger budgets and news holes and are thus able to have more expansive coverage. Once again, people don't just take in this information without thinking. Three factors play into the variety of information people obtain and why they are able to process it. The first is the skepticism on the media.
Many people see the media as a less than reliable source.
Therefore, they may think the information over before they take it as fact. Second, the variety of knowledge that people have in politics allows some people to analyze the information more than others. Third, the variety in tone that news outlets provided in their coverage let voters see different interpretations. Although candidates articulated party sentiments in theirs ads, the candidate ads were centered mostly on the individual. Attack ads concentrated on blaming the other candidate.