An interview with Associate Professor Christopher Terry
During election season, it's important to recognize the role that political advertising in the media plays in our lives and how influential it can be. Hubbard School Associate Professor Christopher Terry specializes in political advertising, diversity policy, and administrative law and media policy. Below he talks about political advertising in today’s climate, and the impact that it can have on all of us.
What does political advertising in the media look like today?
Social media and streaming services have taken the world by storm and politicians know now more than ever that they need to use these forms of media to engage with younger generations. This is why we see so many advertisements come across our screens in addition to printed media. We also see millions of dollars being spent on television advertisements to fill screens. By using the media, political and issue ads are more likely to reach younger, influential generations. Oftentimes we see advertisements about not only the candidates themselves but also ads about issue groups.
“Political advertising looks a lot different than it did just 15 years ago and the reason for that is that the growth of non-candidate groups (i.e. issue groups) has fundamentally changed how campaigns are run and the kind of speech that someone sees in relation to that,” Terry said. We no longer see as many advertisements endorsing the candidate specifically, but rather the main issues that people are most concerned about in upcoming elections. Because these issue advertisements are often led by outside companies, there has been a decrease in quality. While candidate advertisements tend to be more positive, issue based advertisements are often negative. Issue advertisements often push a harmful rhetoric around the candidate that does not support their message.
Political advertising can also look very different in each community.
Terry said that communities are getting different information just based on where they are geographically. “You can’t have a coherent public sphere when people are exposed to radically different sets of information based on where they live.” This can cause a divide between communities based on the information that they are receiving, which can affect the election.
How can political advertising be harmful?
Political advertising can be harmful for a multitude of reasons, including discouraging people from voting. “It (political advertising) has certainly turned people off to wanting to vote or participate politically because the content of the political ads is hostile and off-putting in many ways,” he said.
Many people are discouraged by the advertisements and the negative images that they portray of the competing candidates. Because of the harmful nature of political advertisements, many prospective voters are being left behind and choosing not to cast a ballot because they see both candidates as bad options.
Terry said that another harmful effect is that, “there is no penalty for misrepresenting the data”. Because of this, political and issue campaigns can continue to spew false narratives without any repercussions. This can cause information to be spread that is not entirely factual, which is harmful to voters. Without any penalty, false information can continue to be spread throughout communities and used by the media.
“Bad information is a significant barrier to fixing the problems,” Terry said. Because advertisements can state false information, it is important that voters are doing their own research about each candidate and finding true information through reliable sources.
Want to learn more?
Christopher Terry has done more than 100 media interviews about media law, internet policy, and political advertising. As the election is quickly approaching, it's important that we are able to differentiate real information from false by relying on trusted sources and remembering that political advertisements are not always reliable. So the next time an advertisement for a political candidate or issue pops up on your screen, remember to question its validity and know that it might be causing more harm than good.
Written by Kate Henning, Backpack student
