Transparency in Political Advertising

Assessing the Utility and Validity of the FCC's Online Public Inspection File System

Bibliographic Data

ID13106329
AuthorsJay Newell (0000-0003-3918-9069, Iowa State University, corresponding author), Jeffrey Layne Blevins (0000-0001-5166-2061, University of Cincinnati)
Year2018
Volume8
Pages417-441
Publication date2018-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Information Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2381-5892 • E-ISSN: 2158-3897
PublisherThe Pennsylvania State University Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5325/jinfopoli.8.2018.0417
OpenAlexW3141121685
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

This research explores the usability of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) online Public Inspection Files to measure the sources and quantities of political advertising on broadcast television. We compared data from FCC files with data purchased from a commercial vendor in a presidential caucus campaign that stretched across nine months, including advertising sponsored by over 40 groups and totaled tens of millions of dollars. The FCC-derived and commercial data were consistent in reporting the quantity of advertising, but sponsor identification was inconsistent between data sources, raising concerns about the FCC's ability to disclose reliable information about political ad spending

Advertising · Business · Caucus · Commission · Direct mail · Political advertising · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Transparency (behavior · Usability · Vendor · Computer Science · Intellectual Property Rights and Media · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Marketing