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TV spending has gone up dramatically since 2006 in 2016 alone, $4.4
billion was spent on TV political ads for both presidential and
down-ballot candidates. Prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,
spending for the 2020 race overwhelmed previous campaigns by unheard-of
amounts. Even with the pandemic, TV spending will still be dominant in
2020, particularly as the retail politics of campaign rallies take a
hit.
Down-ballot candidates compete in a media environment where national
political news gets the overwhelming attention by comparison, local
and state news is largely absent. There was a stark imbalance in 2016
almost 90% of local political stories focused on the presidential race,
while two-thirds of the money and ads addressed down-ballot campaigns
where candidates lack the celebrity of presidential contenders. Without
coverage of local issues and races, ad buys on local TV newscasts are
the best chance most candidates have to get their messages in front of a
broadcast audience that is more fragmented than ever.
On local TV news, political ads create the reality of local races a
reality that is not meant to inform voters, but to persuade them,
Yanich said. Voters are left to their own devices to fill in the space
between what the ads say the bought reality and what political
stories used to cover. And, even as the COVID-19 pandemic changes
election strategies, the 2020 campaign will be much the same because the
perfect storm of factors insecure majorities, campaign finance laws
and a media system that benefits from the arrangement continue to
dominate politics in the U.S.
More on Danilo Yanich
Danilo Yanich is a professor of urban affairs and public policy at the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. He is an associate director of the
school and directs the masters program in urban affairs and public
policy. He is a two-time Presidential Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar;
his research focuses on the relationship among the media, citizenship
and public policy.
Article by Crystal Nielsen; photo by Maria Errico
Published May 19, 2020