In a political campaign, candidates with any intent of winning must be able to

communicate their message to the masses. During the pre-television era, presidential candidates

like Harry Truman would walk 31,000 miles across America shaking hands and directly

encountering swarms of voters. The dawn of television has made that process simpler and more

efficient. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first politician to utilize the television to propagate

campaign advertisements, made brief “Eisenhower Answers America” spots that successfully

rivaled democrat candidate Adlai Stevenson's half-hour speeches.1 As time progressed, political

commercials became more controversial, launching personal attacks on opponents and even

inducing the element of fear.

Over the past two months, our team has constructed PoliTHINK – a simple mobile

application for the Android platform that aims to be a useful, interactive guide for audiences to

critically evaluate recent televised political advertisements. The application includes sample

analyses and interpretations of advocacy, contrast and attack commercials sponsored by

presidential campaigns, Super PACs and independent parties. In addition, we have compiled a

simple guide to understanding the campaign process and analyzing advertising content for the

average media consumer. To enhance user experience, we have included functions that enable

one to view a fact-checking website, watch recent advertisements, participate in discussions

through Twitter and submit feedback, all without ever leaving the application.

We believe this application is necessary because advertisements have a profound impact

on public knowledge of policies and candidates as well as on public opinion. Advertisements can

1 Museum of the Moving Image (2012). 1952: Eisenhower vs. Stevenson. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from The Living Room Candidate Web site: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952

change voter opinion, bring up important issues and directly influence their views on candidates.2

In addition, many overlook the content of political advertising, when in reality campaign

commercials provide more information about policies than do most news stories.3 This view is

complemented by the work of Kaid and Holtz-Bacha (1995) and McClure and Patterson (1974),

which concluded that most political commercials address the issues of pertinence and provide

valuable information not typically available in traditional news sources.

The impact of these commercials, despite several studies that have shown little effect of

advertising on voting choices, remains at the heart of campaigns’ decisions to increase spending

on airtime. In this election season alone, presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt

Romney and their supporting outside groups spent a total of $984 million on television spots

across America, according to a tally by SMG-Delta.4 However, the presidential race is not the

only one affected by such vast spending. Exorbitant amounts of money have been poured into

senate advertising, causing controversy in states such as Montana where a recent “Frontline”

investigation revealed shady sources of funding for so-called independent issue advocacy

committees.5

The focus on broadcast commercials was intentionally chosen because television remains

an important source of election news despite the rising prominence of new media. Nearly 60% of

television news is devoted to the election, compared to 40% of the news hole in radio and 25% in

2 West, D. (2008). Advertising and Citizen Voting Behavior. In D. Graber, D. McQuail, & P. Norris, The Politics of News: The News of Politics (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.3 Graber, D. (2010). Mass Media and Politics. CQ Press.4 Nyczepir, D. (2012, November 12). Lessons from a nearly $1 billion TV campaign. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from Campaigns and Elections Web site: http://www.campaignsandelections.com/campaign-insider/342627/lessons-from-a-nearly-and361-billion-tv-campaign.thtml5 The Frontline investigation was referred to in Genzlinger, N. (2012, October 29). On Electoral Map, the Green is Obscured. The New York Times .

newspapers.6 In addition, studies have shown that television and short video formats are far

better in persuading and conveying messages than either radio or newspaper. In a Mindshare

study conducted in October 2012, television was cited as the “most important media for deciding

which way to vote."7 Not only that, televised campaign advertisements often receive additional

coverage when they are covered by other news sources. For example, the “Peace, Little Girl”

advertisement released by the Lyndon Johnson campaign in 1964 was reported on by several

news outlets at the time, and still receives attention today. The reason these advertisements make

such good news stories is because of their essential features – they are high impact, super

compressed and consume minimal cost of coverage (Iyengar and Ansolabehere, 1997).

Besides that, there is a profound need for audiences to critically evaluate the stream of

political advertising. For one, Super PACs, or generously funded independent political action

committees, have changed the way election funding is now organized. Overby (2012) shows that

there is a significant increase in the effectiveness of Super PAC commercials in this election,

which are generally attack based. More recently during the vice presidential debate on October

11th 2012, moderator Martha Raddatz asked if either candidate was embarrassed on the negative

tone of the election. Joe Biden spoke for both of them, expressing his disdain of Super PACs.

In Green (2002), we are shown how not only is there a large share of people who can

benefit from critically evaluating the campaign advertisements, but also how our application can

potentially dispel the audience’s automatically negative, cynical perception and enlighten the

6 Graber, D. (2010). Mass Media and Politics. CQ Press. Figure 8-1 (p. 208)7 McClellan, S. (2012, October 17). Voters: TV Key to Political Choices. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from Media Post News: www.mediapost.com/publications/article/185430/voters-tv-key-to-political-choices.html#ixzz29f5A3x9

audience on what is real.8 The survey Green and the Institute of Global Ethics conducted for the

Project of Campaign Conduct9 showed 55% of respondents feel most candidates deliberately

twist the truth. Additionally, more than half agreed that all or most candidates make unfair

personal attacks on their opponents. Dan Gilmor, the author of Mediactive, further asserts that

public cynicism towards advertising only feeds the problem, implying the need to seek the truth

and evaluate the statement before coming to a conclusion. Hence, the proposed application will

help the public evaluate advertisements rather than merely being cynical about them.

Another issue with political advertising is that although some may be informative, others

may also be uninformative, simply creating a more favorable image of the candidate, or an

unfavorable image of the opponent.10 In reality, they are specifically designed to win votes rather

than inform voters.  Rowbottom (Autumn 2012) shows the rationale for controls on false

campaign speeches and the overall distortion of the election process.11 Rowbottom explains that

the laws are just too broad and it is easy to pass a falsification for an exaggeration.

The rationale behind constructing a mobile application, rather than a web application, is

that we are seeing a rapid shift towards the use of mobile applications. By 2014, the International

Data Corporation predicts that the number of application downloads worldwide will increase to

76.9 billion, from the 10.9 billion in 2010.12 On top of that, a study conducted by Nielsen and

8 Green, J. (2002). The Dimensions of Disgust: Citizen Attitudes and Codes of Campaign Conduct. Camden: The

Institute of Global Ethics.9 Ibid. 10 Zhao, X., & Chaffee, S. (1995). Campaign Advertisements versus Television News as Sources of Political Issue. The Public Opinion Quarterly , 59 (1), 41-65.11 Rowbottom, J. (Autumn 2012). Lies, Manipulation and Elections - Controlling False Campaign Statements. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 507-535.

12 International Data Corporation. (2010, December 13). IDC Forecasts Worldwide Mobile Applications Revenues to Experience More than 60% Compound Annual Growth Through 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from IDC Web

Yahoo in 2011 concluded that 86% of 8000 mobile phone owners between the ages of 13-64 use

the internet on their mobile devices while they watch the television. Of this figure, about one-

third were using mobile applications.13

While developing PoliTHINK, we were fully aware that we were not the first to create an

application analyzing the content of political advertising. Ad watch mini sites such as USA

Today’s Political Ad Tracker and The Washington Post’s Political Ads Database have actively

collaborated with fact-checking organizations to evaluate the truthfulness of campaign

commercials in this campaign. Similarly, the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project

(WiscAds) has taken advantage of the Campaign Media Analysis Group’s (CMAG)

advertisement monitoring technology to analyze commercials from as early as the 1998

campaign. More recently in August 2012, former students at Massachusetts Institute of

Technology developed the Super PAC App for iPhone that “listens” to political commercials on

television, matches the audio against a database and displays the commercial’s sponsors as well

as nonpartisan fact checks on its claims.14 Although our application may not be as

technologically advanced as the Super PAC App, it provides a wider view of advertisements as

well as a guide that they can use to make their own informed evaluations.

site: www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerld=prUS2261791013 Hodgkins, K. (2011, January 29). Nielson/Yahoo: 86% of Mobile Users Fire Up Their Phone While Watching TV. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from IntoMobile: www.intomobile.com/2011/01/29/nielsenyahoo-86-of-mobile-users-fire-up-their-phone-while-watching-tv/14 Sutter, J. (2012, August 22). 'Super PAC App' Knows When Political Ads Stretch the Truth. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from CNN Web site: www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/tech/mobile/super-pac-app-campaign/index.html

In conclusion, a project that not only analyzes political advertisements, but guides the

public on how to do so, is needed for this and coming elections. The rise of television

commercials for campaigns has risen steadily through the election years. The majority of people

who watch these advertisements feel that the candidate is either not telling the truth or is making

an unfair attack on their competitor. In short, we believe PoliTHINK will help guide the public in

evaluating the content of political commercials for themselves and became active participants as

the prime audience of these efforts.

References:

Genzlinger, N. (2012, October 29). On Electoral Map, the Green is Obscured. The New YorkTimes .

Graber, D. (2010). Mass Media and Politics. CQ Press.

Green, J. (2002). The Dimensions of Disgust: Citizen Attitudes and Codes of Campaign Conduct. Camden: The Institute of Global Ethics.

Hodgkins, K. (2011, January 29). Nielson/Yahoo: 86% of Mobile Users Fire Up Their PhoneWhile Watching TV. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from IntoMobile:www.intomobile.com/2011/01/29/nielsenyahoo-86-of-mobile-users-fire-up-their-phonewhile-watching-tv/

International Data Corporation. (2010, December 13). IDC Forecasts Worldwide MobileApplications Revenues to Experience More than 60% Compound Annual GrowthThrough 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2012, from IDC Web site:www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerld=prUS22617910

McClellan, S. (2012, October 17). Voters: TV Key to Political Choices. Retrieved October 31,2012, from Media Post News: www.mediapost.com/publications/article/185430/voterstv-key-to-political-choices.html#ixzz29f5A3x9

Nyczepir, D. (2012, November 12). Lessons from a nearly $1 billion TV campaign. RetrievedNovember 19, 2012, from Campaigns and Elections Web site:http://www.campaignsandelections.com/campaigninsider/342627/lessons-from-a-nearlyand361-billion-tv-campaign.thtml

Rowbottom, J. (Autumn 2012). Lies, Manipulation and Elections - Controlling False CampaignStatements. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 507-535.

Sutter, J. (2012, August 22). 'Supr Pac App' Knows When Political Ads Stretch the Truth.Retrieved October 31, 2012, from CNN Web site:www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/tech/mobile/super-pac-app-campaign/index.html

West, D. (2008). Advertising and Citizen Voting Behavior. In D. Graber, D. McQuail, & P.Norris, The Politics of News: The News of Politics (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: CQPress.

Yadron, D., & Schatz, A. (2012, August 7). Political Ads: How Much is Too Much? RetrievedOctober 31, 2012, from The Wall Street Journal Online:online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443517104577573580726721396.html

Zhao, X., & Chaffee, S. (1995). Campaign Advertisements versus Television News as Sources ofPolitical Issue. The Public Opinion Quarterly , 59 (1), 41-65.