Media Project tracks political advertising

[Danascot]

Media Project Tracks Ads, Analyzes Effects on Elections

In an effort to build name recognition, the newly formed Wesleyan Media Project is tracking and analyzing state and federal political advertisements airing on television and making their findings public. Under the leadership of Assistant Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, the program is striving to fill a niche this election season, following the disbandment of the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project in 2008, which analyzed political advertisements from across the country.

In its first press release in late September, based on data through Sept. 15, the project made observations regarding the effects of the United States Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which holds that the First Amendment does not allow for the limitation of corporate funding in political broadcasts.

“Speculation was that interest groups were going to take over American elections,” Fowler said. “At least in the data through Sept. 15, it really was not the case. We’re seeing increased volume, increased spending, that is driven primarily by candidates and interest groups, but if you look at the distribution of airings, the interest groups are not overwhelmingly dominating the landscape.”

Here's their latest press release:

Gubernatorial Advertising Up Dramatically This Year
Oct. 21, 2010 by efowler

Overall Volume is Double 2006 Level; Outside Group Advertising Has Tripled;
California, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio Inundated by Ads

(MIDDLETOWN, CT –) The volume of advertising in the 37 states holding gubernatorial races this November is up dramatically over the volume of advertising aired up to this point in 2006. A Wesleyan Media Project analysis of gubernatorial race airings between September 1 and October 7, 2010, finds that almost 300,000 ads have been aired across the country in gubernatorial races, double the volume aired in 2006. Candidates accounted for 72 percent of those ads, while parties accounted for another 16.2 percent. Independent groups financed almost 12 percent of the ads, an increase from the 7.4 percent that they financed in 2006.

http://election-ad.research.wesleyan.edu/press-releases/