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What is the role of media
and commercials?
Television, radio, newspapers andnewsmagazines have enormous influence
on the electionprocess. However, Americans have become increasingly
disenchantedwith traditionalmedia and its dominant role inAmerican
politics. The public’s lack of confidence in some traditional institutions
— togetherwith the advent of new technologies—has opened the door
tonewways for voters toget their election information.More recently,
online newspapers, blogs, socialmedia and other Internet sources have had
significant influence. Talk shows, 24-hour cable news, online newspapers,
blogs and socialmedia offer agrowing assortment of information resources,
whichmay ormaynot be based on fact, and can bemisleading.
The growth of online resources has changed the definition of “media” by
democratizing the process and allowing everyday citizens to shape the
making of the news.
Millennials consume news and information in strikinglydifferentways
thanprevious generations. The averagemillennial gets 74percent of their
news online
2
. Eighty-eight percent ofmillennials get news fromFacebook
regularly.
LearnMore
Decipher an ad:
• Select a campaign ad currently running
on TV.
• Listen to the adwith your eyes closed.
• What feelings did you have while listening
to the ad?
• Now bothwatch and listen to the ad.
• What feelings did you have while also
watching the ad?
• What created those feelings? Consider
music, other sound, visual quality,
background scene, and people shown in
the ad.
• What new factual knowledge did you gain
from the ad?
• Would the admake youmore likely to
support or oppose the candidate it talks
about?Why or why not?
Be a careful consumer of campaign
advertising. Look for statements of fact
and recognize when there is an attempt
tomanipulate your emotional response.
Also pay attention to who paid for the
ad. Was it authorized by the candidate or
another group? If the top donors are listed,
do you recognize any of the names? Are
they individuals or groups withwhich you
typically agree?
How to find the best
election coverage
There are bothpluses andminuses
togettingyour information from
different types ofmedia. If you
don’t feel you’re getting enough
information about the candidates and
their positions on the issues, check
out some alternatives. For example,
research on the internet formore
detailed breakdowns ofwhere the
candidates stand.
Make sure to look for signs of the
editorial point of view, asmany
may contain some form of bias.
Also on the internet, the League of
WomenVoters offers a resourcewith
information about candidates and
ballot issues aswell as information
about the votingprocess.
See
Campaign commercials
As the electiondate draws closer,
campaign commercials—particularly
onTV—becomemore andmore
prevalent. As you encounter these
commercials, think carefully about
what you are hearing and seeing.
Also recognize thatwatching and
listening to campaign ads is not
intended to be strictly about facts.
Often the larger goal of these
commercials is to create or enhance
feelings about a certain candidate.
Until 1964, campaign ads—in fact
most ads ingeneral—were designed
to provide information. For political
advertising, a change began in1964
withLyndon Johnson’s famous
Daisy ad (
. It
only ran once but is considered to
have had amajor impact on the
election. Set during the ColdWar,
when fears of nuclearwarwere
common, it showed a beautiful
little girl pullingpetals off a daisy
while there is a countdown in
the background, followed by the
horrifyingmushroom cloud of an
atomic bomb.
Startingwith that ad, political
commercials have beendesigned to
elicit strong emotions rather than
provide information. Sometimes
there are positive associationswith
a candidate, such as trust and
warmth, through images of families,
sunshine andnature.More often,
negative emotions, such as fear
anddistrust, are elicited toward an
opponent. The producers of these ads
aremasters at usingmanipulation
throughdistorted images, sound,
color and subliminalmessages. But
their favorite tactic by far is fear.
Fear of loss, fear of danger, fear of
the ‘other.’
Fear is not a logical process. And
once fear is associatedwith agroup
or person, it is extremelydifficult
touse logic to disassociate it. Have
you ever tried to tell someone that
anugly spider cannot hurt them?
Or that lookingdown from a tall
buildingwill notmake them fall?
Theyknow it is true intellectually,
but the facts donot calm the fear.
That iswhy these emotional appeals
are not subject to counter arguments
or “fact checking.”
ELECTION2016: YOURCRITICALROLE IN THEELECTIONPROCESS
