How presidential political ads use (and misuse) news-mediated evidence
Course Credit?
NoPaid Position?
NoFaculty
Chris RobertsDescription
Political ads often make statements that reference a news story, because third-party evidence is more credible than other sorts of statements. But sometimes, those ads don't always tell the truth about what the original evidence really says. Since 2008, we've coded hundreds of presidential spots that contain news-mediated evidence, and then found the original stories cited in those ads, and then determined whether what the ad says matches what the news evidence says. (So far, we've found that news stories are "misued" about a third of the time.) And now it's time for 2024 presidential ads. We're looking for help to find and download presidential campaign ads that refer to news-mediated evidence. Then we need help to find the original news stories cited in those ads. Then the fun begins: following codebook directions to determine how news evidence may (or may not) be misused, and in what ways. Dr. Roberts will provide training, supervision and food. An online form makes it easy to watch ads and code stories from anywhere.
Special Directions
Provide a resume.
Special Skills
Finding and downloading ads, news site and database searches to find stories, and following directions to code entries. Being able to discern subtleties in persuasion and propaganda will be essential.