2016/10/27 by Mark David Major, David J. Andersen · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Media Influence and Politics #Media Studies and Communication #Electoral Systems and Political Participation
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/psq.12324
openalex publication_date 2016/10/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/24
Negative political ads are increasingly ubiquitous in presidential campaigns but most of the public do not directly observe these ads. Instead they become aware of these negative attacks through the press. Recent scholarship finds that the news media incentivizes presidential campaigns to go negative as it will generate more free coverage compared to positive advertisements. However, scholarship has yet to examine the framing of this free coverage. Through a content analysis of New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today's coverage of the controversial Swift Boat Veteran's for Truth ads during the 2004 presidential election, this study evaluates whether free media is synonymous with wanted coverage. We find that news coverage provides both benefits and disadvantages for the presidential campaigns associated with the negative ads.