To Tell the Truth

Ad Watch Coverage, Ad Tone, and the Accuracy of Political Advertising

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7971500
AutoresPatrick Meirick (0000-0002-6422-4244), Gwendelyn S Nisbett (0000-0003-3628-5020), Lindsey A Harvell-Bowman (0000-0001-5477-0535), Kylie J Harrison, Matthew D Jefferson, Tae-Sik Kim (0000-0001-8428-8635), Michael Pfau (0000-0002-6388-5737), Michael W Pfau
Ano2018
Volume35
Fascículo3
Páginas450-469
Data de publicação2018-07-03
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPolitical Communication (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1058-4609 • E-ISSN: 1091-7675
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10584609.2017.1414089
OpenAlexW2776080334
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas57

This study examined the relationships among newspaper ad watch coverage, ad tone, and the accuracy of political advertising. A sample of political advertisements (N = 160) was drawn from the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG) database and other sources for eight U.S. Senate races. Two experts on each race evaluated the ads' accuracy and their ideological portrayals of candidates, while trained coders analyzed other aspects of the ads. Ad watch coverage from these races (ad watch N = 109) also was content-analyzed. The number of ad watches overall in a race and the number that explicitly criticized ads were positively related with the level of accuracy of political ads and with a tendency to portray their favored candidates closer to their actual ideological position—but the overall number of ad watches also was positively related with a tendency for ads to portray opponents as more extreme than their positions warranted. Ad watches usually tend to scrutinize negative ads more, but ad watch coverage in this study was unrelated with ad tone and with the number of negative ads in a race. Positive ads were rated as more accurate but also more prone to exaggerate the supported candidates' centrism compared to other ads. Normative and practical implications are discussed.We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.— Neil Newhouse, pollster for the Mitt Romney 2012 campaign

Advertising · Art · Business · Literature · Media studies · Political advertising · Political communication · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Tone (literature · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication