With the 2008 Presidential Election drawing closer, UW-Madison students working with the Wisconsin Advertising Project will attempt to analyze all federal and gubernatorial political advertisements aired on television this year.
UW-Madison political science professor Ken Goldstein directs the project, which began in 2000.
According to a statement, a nearly $300,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation, an organization that aims to strengthen democracy and promote fair elections, will fund the program.
The project is considered the most important and credible source of information on broadcast campaign advertising, according to a statement.
We're known as a really incredible place to get information on political advertising,"" Goldstein said.
He said data regarding the target of an ad is purchased for the project from the TNS Media Intelligence Campaign Media Analysis Group in Washington D.C.
A new technological system marketed by CMAG monitors local advertising in the country's top 100 media markets, and is able to recognize the unique sound patterns of ads. According to the project's website, once an ad is aired, the system downloads it and creates a storyboard the students are then able to code from.
After watching each ad, students answer a series of questions about what they have seen, Goldstein said. They are asked to identify the focus of the ad, characterizations made of the favored or opposing candidate and whether endorsements are mentioned, among other things.
""Following the money spent on television advertising in 2008 will enable voters to see who is spending money to influence election outcomes and what they are saying,"" Lawrence Hansen, Joyce Foundation vice president, said in a statement.
Joel Rivlin, the project's deputy director, said President George Bush's presence in an ad is also coded for, and the project's research from earlier years makes his declining popularity noticeable.
""By the time you get to 2006 you have a lot of Republicans criticizing George Bush, and the Democrats that mention [Bush] universally do it in a negative way,"" Rivlin said.
Additionally, Rivlin said the 2004 presidential election highlighted how few people saw political ads, which were much more prominent in swing states like Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida.
He noted the number of ads shown for political races with a safe incumbent was nowhere near the amount shown in more competitive races.
According to Goldstein, the project provides a ""tremendous opportunity for undergrads to do research.""
Rivlin agreed. ""It's gratifying to see an undergrad at the UW helping to put together something which is the next day on the front of the New York Times.""
