Another Reason Why All Political Advertising Should be Limited/Banned

Image of Accused Sniper Appears in Ad

From CNN:

"The commercial opens with a newspaper photo of Muhammad, who faces charges in the shooting deaths that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area this month. That fades to the image of a barrel of a gun on one side of the screen and a picture of Garrett (running against Ann Summers for an open house seat) on the other."

A politician has actually used the Sniper in ad ad to atack the gun control position of her opponent.

Combine this with the sickening babble and childish catfighting in the Massachusetts Governors race and many other political races for that matter and you begin to wonder if advertising like this should be permitted.

It's really no wonder why voter turnout is so low. No one wants to hear this crap. It is unimportant. We want to hear the issues discussed in a mature and considerate way. The mudslinging an negative advertising trend has simply gone too far.

It wouldn't be perfect but I'd be all for a ban on all political advertising thus having politicians have to fight it out editorially. Say what you will about the media, but news editors still have a far better objective handle on things then campaign management.

Infringement of free speech? Sure it is. A radical suggestion? Of course it is. But do you really like listening to ads speaking half truths about politicians? Of course we'll still hear the half truths in debates but at least there will be some modicum of control.

Think about it.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-31-02    




Despite Increased Internet Usage Gen Y Still Reads College Newspapers

In the post below, I make mention of national newspaper companies creating versions to target the Gen Y audience. A recent study reported on Yahoo by 360 Youth states that college students still look to their college newspaper for daily news and information. From the study:

Despite the impressive connectedness of the youth sector, students continue to read their campus newspaper on a regular basis, making it a highly targeted means for marketers to reach this age group. In fact, a study conducted by Student Monitor found that students prefer their print editions over the online versions, reporting only 8% visited their newspaper websites over the course of a month, while 45% of students had read at least 3 out of the last 5 issues of their campus paper and spend an average of 19 minutes with each issue. The College Explorer study found that 75% of all students read their campus newspaper, finding 25% have read all 5 of the last 5 issues.


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by Steve Hall    Oct-31-02    




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