With midterm elections coming up Nov. 7 and the 2024 presidential election season in full swing, the Kent State University community is going to be inundated with political advertisements across print, radio, television and social media.
Women’s reproductive rights and marijuana are headlining the November ballot, so advertising across Ohio has already started.
Learning how to research issues and candidates and evaluate the information will be helpful to everyone this voting season.
Kent State Today sought answers from Mike Jackson, professional-in-residence, who teaches the courses, Advertising Strategy Development and Messaging and Communication, in the School of Media and Journalism.
What to Look For
Jackson sorts political ads into three main categories: candidate-focused ads, which highlight a candidate’s values; issues-based ads, which focus on issue advocacy; and attack ads, which are designed to weaken an opposing candidate's platform.
Candidate-focused ads can be extremely helpful for voters, Jackson said, because they are meant to highlight a candidate's values. In contrast, attack ads can contain misleading information, which can steer voters away from a candidate.
“I think consumers just have to be savvy in forming their thoughts around the candidates.”
“I think consumers just have to be savvy in forming their thoughts around the candidates,” Jackson said. “We need to be vetting these candidates, not for what we hear and what we read, but for who they are.”
Students Are Paying Attention
Ohio is considered a swing state, meaning voters will likely see a higher volume of various types of ads making it even more challenging for students to analyze the information and vet candidates.
That’s just fine for Jocy Holtsberry, a senior political science and public relations double major, who gets excited around election season.
“One of my favorite things about Ohio is that we're a swing state, so we just see so much more like action campaign-wise.”
“One of my favorite things about Ohio is that we're a swing state, so we just see so much more like action campaign-wise,” Holtsberry said. “Just super exciting.”
Jackson notes that some geographic areas become bombarded with political ads at certain times in the election, making it more challenging to decipher misinformation.
Alex Livingston, a junior aeronautics major, is from Pennsylvania, which is also a swing state.
Livingston says it is hard to escape the flood of political ads.
“It's all I'm seeing, and that's only when I'm at home. Then I go to school in Ohio, and I can’t escape it,” Livingston said, expressing his frustration.
Independent Thinking
Of all voters, independent voters are more likely to focus on issues-based ads, according to Jackson. These voters are specifically targeted, making them more susceptible to misinformation, he said.
“The people who are in the middle have the ability to swing the election,” Jackson said. “And I would argue that they are more interested in issues-based advertising.”
Jackson suggests that voters focus on the issues they care about the most and it will help counter the sheer volume of ads this season.
Vetting candidates will help voters combat misinformation. Voters should do their research and look for publicly available information such as past voting records and ads focusing on a certain candidate or specific issue.
“What I like to do is just conduct my own research on them. See their stances, their voting history, our state Senate, see who aligns with my views more, and I try to not pay attention to the attack ads that I'm seeing."
“What I like to do is just conduct my own research on them," Livingston said. “See their stances, their voting history, our state Senate, see who aligns with my views more, and I try to not pay attention to the attack ads that I'm seeing.”
No matter your state during campaign season, it is important to recognize how political advertisements can affect you as a consumer and a voter as these ads continue to increase as we near the Nov. 7 election.