Different Kinds Of Forms In Issue Advocacy

Consistent with prior Annenberg Public Policy Center research on the discourse of

political campaigns, we categorized issue advertisements by their central arguments. Arguments were classified as advocacy (a case made only for the position supported by the ad's sponsor), pure attack (a case made only against the opposing position), and comparison (an argument that pairs a case against the opposition with a case for the sponsor's position). Comparison is considered preferable to pure attack because it al-lows evaluation of alternative positions. Pure attack contributes to the negative tone of political campaigns.

Compared with other discursive forms, including presidential candidate ads, de-bates, speeches in free time, and news coverage of the campaign (both television and print), issue advertisements.

Arguments in issue ads were less MBT Shoes likely to compare positions than were arguments in debates, free-time speeches, and ads sponsored by the presidential candidates. Stations become involved in this political process and thereby assume responsibility when they air political ads. The 1996 and 1998 election cycles saw a dramatic increase in the number of candidate-sponsored and party-sponsored ads. Both elections also were marked by millions of new dollars of "soft money" raised and spent by third parties, such as political action committees, individuals, and various interest groups. The size and scope of this new advertising raises two key issues for stations.

The first issue for stations is whether to air these ads. Nothing in the law requires that stations accept ads from political action committees, independent expenditure ads, or issue advocacy ads. Whereas stations are protected from libel suits over ads for candidates for federal officea protection extended in part because, with only a few exceptions, stations cannot interfere with the content of the candidate's adsthere is no such protection for stations choosing to air issue advocacy ads, independent expenditure ads, or ads by political action committees. There is, in other words, a small but discernible legal risk in accepting such ads when their claims are suspect, particularly when they misrepresent the views of an individual who can claim legal standing.

The second issue for stations is how to cover these ads. If one side is substantially outspending the other on broadcast ads, as the MBT Shoes tobacco industry did in the campaign against the McCain bill, do the newscasters of the stations drawing revenue from the ads have an obligation to ensure that viewers are not misled? In other words, is this a circumstance that invites monitoring of ads in local news? Similarly, one might ask whether news reporters should help viewers make sense of the barrage of candidate ads in the fall of election years.

by: Scofield

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