AS SEEN ON TV.

• Author: WARNER, RICK
• Position: Analyzing presidential campaign ads

FOCUS: How Students Can Analyze Political Ads to Separate Fact From Fiction

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand how political ads are supposed to work and to identify different types: ads that promote a candidate, those that attack an opponent, and those that focus on issues.

Discussion Questions:

* What kind of scene in a TV commercial would convince viewers to think of the candidate as a likable person?

* Whose ads--George W. Bush's or Al Gore's--do you find more appealing, or more persuasive?

* Suppose it's proved that a candidate intentionally produced an ad that misrepresented an opponent's record. Would you favor punishment of some kind, or just chalk up the incident to politics as usual?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Ad Analysis: Examine the ads on pages 10-11. Before students read the analysis boxes, ask them about the ads. Do they compare the records of Bush and Gore? How do they use facts to persuade viewers? Do they attack their opponent? Research: Before Election Day, students can monitor Bush and Gore TV ads. Students should note: * How many ads they saw for each candidate * Which ads were positive--promoting a candidate--or negative--attacking an opponent * The visual scenes * The ad's geographical target (A swing state?) * The intended audience (Everyone? The elderly? Future college students? Factory workers? Women?)

Rate the ads, referring to questions at the top of pages 10-11 to guide ratings. Which ads were fair, which misleading?

Writing Exercise: Break the class into as many ad teams as feasible. Each team must write an ad supporting or opposing Bush or Gore. Like the TV experts, students must plan a visual presentation. What's in the foreground and background? What other people, if any, should be shown near the candidate?

Students must keep these factors in mind as they pick an issue---gun control, school prayer, health insurance, the environment, violent videos--anything they like. Have them write a scene showing the candidate in the setting of the issue. For example, talking to police to focus on' gun control, in a hospital to focus on health care, hiking in a forest to focus on the environment, etc.

Finally, students should discuss what they learned from the exercise.

The candidates are bombarding the airwaves with campaign ads. But how can you tell if what they're selling is real?

You can't avoid them. Watch any TV program these days and you're bound to see at least one campaign commercial for a presidential...