By KATHIE DICKENSON

Fall is here, presidential elections are approaching and words are swirling faster than leaves in November wind. You want to be a responsible citizen, but how can you sort out the hype enough to make an intelligent choice in the voting booth?

Becoming an informed voter takes time and effort, says Radford University communication professor Gwen Brown, who specializes in political communication. "It bothers me when I hear voters chastised for not being well informed on the issues." Although following every facet of a campaign is her passion as well as her profession, "the average voter does not have the time to do what I do," she says.

That being said, she adds that "no one ever said democracy would be easy" and offers tips to help voters make informed decisions about candidates.

Two Essentials

The Political Conventions - "You need to take the time to see the conventions," says Brown, "because this is the party's opportunity to say 'this is our standard bearer' and 'these are the promises we make.' Voters need to hold them accountable to those promises."

The Presidential Debates - The debates, she says, are among the best resources for voters. They allow you to get a sense of the candidates' ideas and, especially, of the clash between their ideas-how the candidates are different. "For three evenings this fall, you can sit in your living room with the candidates and judge for yourself who these men are."

Other Straight-from-the-Source Options

Candidates' Web Sites - "The best benefit of the web sites is that you can read the candidates' speeches," says Brown. "It's important to know what they are saying so that you can hold them accountable to their words." In the news media, a reporter will only present a few lines of a speech, then go on to discuss the candidate's motivation for making it. This media focus on political strategy, Brown adds, is a factor that leads to cynicism among voters.

How do you test the reliability of a candidate's words? For example, if he takes credit for sweeping educational improvements in his state while he was governor or senator, how do you know the credit is due him?

"Go to the other candidate's web site," says Brown. "If one candidate says anything questionable, you can be sure the other one will call him on it."

You must read these sites with a critical eye. "They will take every opportunity to make themselves look good," she says.

"Be sure you have the right web addresses," Brown warns. "There are a number of parody sites. If you stumble upon certain ones, you may get a very red face." George W. Bush's Web address is www.georgewbush.com and Al Gore's site is at www.algore.com.

Television Ads - Despite public perception that campaign ads are usually negative-a notion encouraged by the media-Brown says they can be an excellent source of information and most of them are actually positive. If you feel an ad is trying to trick you, ask yourself, "Is this an ad that fairly differentiates one candidate from another, or does it unfairly attack the other candidate with unsubstantiated claims?" Even among ads that are negative, she says, there are fair and unfair ones.

News Media

News media play an important role in keeping the public informed and aware of other perspectives besides the candidates'. Brown emphasizes getting a balanced picture.

Media available to most people include: nightly network television news, newspapers, news magazines and radio and TV talk shows.

If you have limited time and finances, Brown suggests, choose several diverse resources and stick with them, remembering to seek a balance of views. Or you could take an issues approach: choose several issues you think are important and follow them closely.

If you are content with the way things are, you may not feel the need to examine the issues or even to vote, says Brown. On the other hand, if a particular issue, such as abortion, is very important to you, "you already know whom you're voting for."