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First published on April 8, 2008
Political Research Quarterly 2008, doi:10.1177/1065912908314202
© 2008 University of Utah

Article

Free Advertising: How the Media Amplify Campaign Messages

Travis N. Ridout* and Glen R. Smith

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tnridout{at}wsu.edu.


  Abstract
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 amplification is quite common and that negative and comparative ads are much more likely to receive media attention than positive ads. This has implications for how scholars measure ad exposure and for understanding why Americans dislike negative advertising.


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