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home the archives faculty services arts & science departments college of arts & science mu campus |
Bush TV ads, Kerry Web ads more negative than opponent'sWith four months to go before the presidential election, the campaigns for Bush-Cheney and Kerry-Edwards are developing new ads for television, radio and the Web continuously. New findings by University of Missouri-Columbia Communication professor William Benoit indicate that while President Bush’s television ads continue to be more negative, John Kerry’s Web ads also are negative, as are the Political Action Committee ads supporting Kerry.
Benoit’s analysis of each presidential campaign ad found the percentage of Bush’s negative statements to be about the same in all three media outlets: 44 percent in television spots, 50 percent in Web ads and 53 percent in radio spots. Kerry, though, was least negative in his television spots, 15 percent, but was much more negative in his Web ads, 87.5 percent, and his one radio spot, 80 percent. Benoit also analyzed the topics of the statements and placed them into two categories: policy or character. The two candidates discussed policy more than character in their television spots: 58 percent for Bush and 54 percent for Kerry, as well as in their radio spots: 91 percent for Bush and 100 percent for Kerry. Benoit found the ads diverged on the Web. The claims in Bush’s ads stress character, 70 percent, over policy, 30 percent. Kerry’s ads are exactly reverse, 30 percent character and 70 percent policy.
Additional links:Bill Benoit |
| copyright © 2000 The Curators of the University of Missouri Last update: 29-Sep-2005 contact the project: Web information |
"Most of the non-candidate ads attack Bush in an attempt to level the playing field," Benoit said. "The audience for Web ads probably has a larger percentage of the sponsoring candidate’s supporters than the audience for television spots. Kerry’s Web ads may attack more than Bush’s to try to energize his supporters. If so, it’s surprising that Bush’s Web ads do not attack more." 
Other information about the 2004 presidential campaign, along with historic contextual information, can be found at Benoit’s Presidential Campaign 2004 Website: