How political candidates and organizations are using the media to impact elections

Molly Burchard 

mb712319@ohio.edu

                                                             

Graphic from End Now Foundation

There is never a slow moment in the news during an election cycle. Media companies all over the country work around the clock to keep their audiences informed about the choices they have on election day. Candidates for office also use the media to help sway voters. Special interest groups do this as well to help their political agenda. 

In 2004, a series of television ads created by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth made a sizeable impact in that year's presidential election. The organization created ads that argued the democratic candidate for president, John Kerry, would not be fit for office because he had acted unjustly while serving in the Vietnam War. Kerry's military record told a different story. He was awarded multiple awards for the injuries he obtained overseas. However, the ads still gained much traction on TV and across the media. 

The ads created enough doubt to make voters skeptical of Kerry. Even if they didn't like the war George W. Bush was holding in Iraq, these television ads made voters hesitant to vote in Kerry. As a result, Kerry lost the 2004 presidential election, and the ads spread across the media may have contributed to why. 

Since then, the media's influence in elections has evolved. Social media now plays a part in the future of the American government. In 2012, the Obama campaign used Facebook to help reach millions of supporters. The Obama campaign even had its own Facebook app, which gave users the option to share their Facebook friends list. According to  Yahoo News, this feature proved effective as most users did. From there, the campaign would use the friend's list to target new individuals and make suggestions on who to send Obama-related content to. Through the media, the Obama campaign influenced new group supporters. 

A new form of media that may be influencing elections is TikTok. Candidates trying to target young voters are starting to utilize this forum. In 2020, U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff used TikTok to help him narrowly win the election. He posted short videos on the app that followed relevant trends and shared his political agenda. He made sure to highlight issues that would be important to young people, like cutting student loans. This act of taking and posting videos on the app inspired a new crowd to go out and vote for Ossoff. 

In the coming years, it will be interesting to see how candidates and special interest groups continue to use the media to help impact elections. As technology changes, candidates must continue to evolve if they want their campaigns to stay relevant. Who knows what the future will bring, but we may see new forms of political action in the media.