Political Ads and Media Literacy Skills

by Frank W. Baker, March 2012

In 2008, after being nominated as the Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama released his first commercial of the campaign, "The Country I Love." That night, satirist/comedian Jon Stewart asked his Comedy Central audience if they recognized the acoustic guitar music playing in the background of the spot. Stewart went on to say that anything would sound good with that kind of music, even "mad cow disease." So Stewart proceeded to read attributes of the disease while a member of his band played similar music in the background. While the audience roared with laughter, I thought that Stewart played the role of a national media educator—educating his audience about one of the techniques used in slickly produced national campaign commercials.

Many of us are exposed to commercials, but not many of us, our students included, are media literate enough to understand the production process or how advertising influences us. Too many of our students view passively, with the thinking parts of their brains turned off. Media literacy, among other things, is designed to instill critical thinking and critical viewing in our students, by helping them to become active, critical consumers of media and information.

STANDARDS AND MEDIA LITERACY

If the analysts are to be believed, then the 2012 election cycle promises to be one of the most negative and most expensive in history. Money drives the election or re-election process. Candidates will be raising tons of cash primarily to get their messages on television—still the preferred medium to reach the largest number of potential voters.

We've all seen the campaign ads on television, and now on the web. Teachers have more opportunity than ever to engage students in understanding the techniques of persuasion as well as techniques of production.

Media literacy, which I have written about previously on these pages, (LMC, January/February 2011) is about engaging students in both analyzing and creating media messages. Bloom's Digital Taxonomy positions "creating" at the top of the higher order thinking skills. Having students deconstruct as well as produce political campaign ads is a great way to foster media literacy education (http://www.techlearning.com/news/0002/bloom39s-taxonomy-blooms-digitally/65603).

The Center for Civil Education also recommends in its National Standards for Civics and Government that campaign ads be studied by students during each election cycle (http://www.civiced.org/standards).

TEACHING IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS

Before using political commercials with students, it is important to introduce them to traditional advertising. Students should step out of their own skin and begin to think like advertisers. For example, before you can market a product (or sell a candidate), students should consider the following:

• Who is my audience (demographic)?
• What does my audience watch or listen to?
• How will I reach them? (Note: The word "reach" is specific here to the ad industry)
• Do I know what they watch and when?
• Which techniques (images, sounds) will I use to get their attention?
• For which TV programs will I purchase commercial ad time?
• Can I connect my product (candidate) with someone famous (e.g., Senator Obama with Oprah Winfrey) or some highly anticipated broadcast event (e.g., the Super Bowl, Academy Awards)?
• What does my audience know about the product (candidate)?
• What do I want them to know?
• Can I get my audience to connect with my product (candidate) via late night talk shows, smartphones, or social networking?

Before analyzing a presidential candidate's commercial, use a warm-up activity in which students first watch and analyze conventional commercials. Many of today's campaign ads use some of the same techniques. Students can examine:

• Camera angles and camera movement
• Setting and backdrop
• Symbolism
• Color
• Music and/or sound effects

POLITICAL ADS PAST AND PRESENT

Almost every politician running for office has a website, and that site usually links to commercials the candidate has produced for public consumption. Students might wish to start there.

Another good place to find ads is YouTube. In 2009, Social Education (a publication of the National Council of Social Studies) carried the essay "Using YouTube to Teach Presidential Election Propaganda: 12 Representative Videos." This list is a good starting point for analyzing presidential campaign ads.

If accessing YouTube is a problem, the following websites will come in handy.

The Living Room Candidate, part of the Museum of the Moving Image (http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/). Commercials going back to 1952 can be seen here.

EASE History: Campaign Ads www.easehistory.org/castream.asp?id=2. The left-hand menu will come in handy for those who want to be more specific with ad themes, symbols, and more. [Ed. note: EASE History has changed since this article was published, but its collection of ads can be viewed at http://knowledgenetwork.alumni.msu.edu/knowledge-visualization/presidential-campaign-ads.html]

A segment of the documentary Sell and Spin: A History of Advertising is devoted to the history of campaign ads on television. This nine-minute segment is a good introductory video for students.

Students Analyze Those Ads http://www.frankwbaker.com/adanalysisworksheet.htm.
This Political Advertising Analysis Worksheet can be used with students as they watch and analyze these ads. It will help them focus on one or more aspects of an ad.

After introducing the common techniques of persuasion (archived at http://web.archive.org/web/20060214144134/http://reta.nmsu.edu/traincd/media/tools.html), students could study any one of a number of ads and identify one or more of the techniques.

HAVING STUDENTS CREATE ADS

Many freely available software programs (iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, PhotoStory 3, Glogster) make it easy for students to create their own campaign ads.

If students have not yet been taught the media production process, then this might be a good time to start. Students must first write a script for their 30 or 60-second ads. Teachers may wish to assign students a specific topic or issue from a particular candidate's website. That topic or issue could be the focus of their ads.

If teachers/students need a scriptwriting template, like the 30-second two-column script, they can locate one at my website, "Scriptwriting in the Classroom" (http://www.frankwbaker.com/scriptwriting_in_the_classroom.htm).

After their scripts are complete, they should consider the importance of creating a companion storyboard. A storyboard is a visual representation of the words and scenes outlined in the script. By taking the time to create a storyboard, students begin to think visually, which helps in the production process. A number of storyboard templates can be found online.

After the script and storyboard are final, students are ready to create/shoot and edit their production. Adding narration, words, and music are keys to creating a message that will be appealing and attractive to an audience.

HOW CAN YOU VERIFY CLAIMS IN POLITICAL ADS?

Several organizations have established websites which investigate claims made in politician's ads. The longest established site is FactCheck.org, created by the non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center. The site fact-checks not only the ads but also the claims made in speeches and debates. FactCheck's education site features lesson plans (http://factchecked.org [updated link: http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/].

Politifact.com is a project of the Tampa Bay (FL) Times newspaper. Among its features are a gas gauge graphic that reveals whether a particular claim is true, false, or somewhere in between.

The newcomer to fact-checking is Newstrust.net. Recently the organization unveiled Truthsquad: Fact-Check Your News, (www.newstrust.net/truthquad). The organization wants to hold politicians and the media accountable during the 2012 election. [Ed. note: NewsTrust is now part of the Poynter Institute http://www.poynter.org/].

Originally published in Library Media Connection 30, no.5 (March-April 2012). Links updated August 2016.