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• Author: Travis N. Ridout,Glen R. Smith
• DOI: 10.1177/1065912908314202
• Published date: 01 December 2008
• Date: 01 December 2008
• Subject Matter: Articles

598

Political Research Quarterly

Volume 61 Number 4

December 2008 598-608

© 2008 University of Utah

10.1177/1065912908314202

http://prq.sagepub.com

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How the Media Amplify Campaign Messages

Travis N. Ridout

Glen R. Smith

Washington State University, Pullman

The impact of political ads paid for by candidates is amplified because of the free media coverage they receive. Yet

how frequently does that occur? And are certain types of ads more likely to be covered? To answer these questions,

we performed a content analysis of news coverage in ten U.S. Senate campaigns in 2004. We find that ad amplifica-

tion is quite common and that negative and comparative ads are much more likely to receive media attention than pos-

itive ads. This has implications for how scholars measure ad exposure and for understanding why Americans dislike

negative advertising.

Keywords: political advertising; campaigns; news media; ad amplification

During the 1964 presidential campaign, President

Johnson’s campaign aired one of the most

famous advertisements in American political history:

the “Daisy Girl” ad. The ad—in which a young girl’s

count of petals plucked from a daisy turns quickly

into a countdown to a nuclear explosion—was aired

just once. And yet the ensuing media discussion—

and re-airing of the ad on news broadcasts—gave the

ad a tremendous impact. Indeed, Jan Leighley writes

that the ad “likely received more media coverage and

public discussion than any other ad in the history of

presidential campaign politics” (Leighley 2004, 211).

This ad represents what is believed to be a rela-

tively rare type of political advertisement: one that has

much greater impact through the unpaid than through

the paid media. Such may be the hope of every polit-

ical consultant, that a paid-for ad will receive abun-

dant free air time in the news media. Yet how often

does that happen? How often do the news media serve

to magnify the importance of an ad? And under what

circumstances is that most likely to occur?

To investigate these questions, we examine the adver-

tising aired in ten different U.S. Senate races in 2004. In

the end, we find that occurrences of “ad amplification”

are quite common, and we find that one particular type

of ad, namely, that with some negative content, is much

more likely to be the subject of media attention.

At the most basic level, our research contributes to a

better understanding of media coverage of political ad

campaigns, how commonly it occurs, and under what

conditions. In addition, our research helps to explain

the public’s dislike of political advertising because the

news media magnify the messages contained in negative

ads. Finally, we offer important insights for researchers

who study the influence of advertising exposure because

our findings suggest that knowing how many times an

ad aired is not enough; researchers must also know how

much play each ad got in the free media as well.

Media Coverage of Campaigns

Although scholars know relatively little about how

the news media cover advertising, they do know quite

a bit about media coverage of campaigns in general.

One oft-noted aspect of campaign coverage is the

media’s focus on the horse race—which candidate is

gaining ground and which candidate is losing. Study

after study has shown that horse race coverage domi-

nates, especially in presidential campaigns (Patterson

and McClure 1976; Robinson and Sheehan 1983;

Steger 1999).

Another feature of election coverage that stands out

is the media’s focus on campaign controversies, so-

Travis N. Ridout, Assistant Professor of Political Science,

Washington State University; e-mail:tnridout@wsu.edu.

Glen R. Smith, PhD Candidate in Political Science, Washington State

University; e-mail: smith631@wsu.edu.

Authors’Note: We thank Ken Goldstein for the use of the Wisconsin

Advertising Project data. We also thank Jim King, Michael Hagen,

and Erika Franklin Fowler for their helpful comments.