Technology and political advertising: The application of ethical standards to the 1992 spots

Abstract

One of the major ethical concerns with political advertising is the use of video and computer technologies to alter and distort political messages. The project reported here uses content analysis to determine the frequency and types of technological distortions present in political spot advertising from the 1992 presidential campaign. Using a sample of 240 spots from primary and general election campaigns, the researcher found that 42 percent of the spots contained some type of technological distortion. Distortions were more likely to occur in negative spots than in positive ones.