Campaign Advertising Strategy – Tuesday, October 2nd (Blog #5)

Analyze four examples of presidential campaign ads – one each from Trump and Clinton in the 2016 election and two from a previous election (2012 or earlier). Discuss the audience demographic/s the ad was targeting and whether you think the ad was effective in its messaging for its target audience/s. You should refer to Ch. 4 in Denton and at least one additional reading posted for this week to support your analysis. Note: the website “The Living Room Candidate” (http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/) is a good place to locate presidential campaign ads.

Polling – Tuesday, September 25th (Blog #4)

What impact do polls have on political communication? How would you assess the role that polls and poll aggregating organizations (like FiveThirtyEight.com or RealClearPolitics) played in the 2016 presidential election? In your opinion, is there too much emphasis on polls by the media, politicians, and/or the public OR is polling a valuable way to gauge political opinion? Be sure to use at least two of the readings for this week to support your response. 

Social Media – Tuesday, September 18th (Blog #3)

Analyze President Trump’s tweets during the week of your last birthday (in 2018 or 2017). What topics were covered? Were any individuals mentioned in the tweets? How would you describe the tone of the tweets (positive, negative, neutral)? How representative were that week’s tweets of President Trump’s general use of Twitter as a communications tool? And how does President Trump’s use of Twitter compare to the social media usage of other politicians, particularly President Obama (as discussed in the Farnsworth chapters) or Hillary Clinton (covered in Denton Ch. 5)? You should refer to the Farnsworth or Denton chapters and at least one additional reading posted for this week (9/18) to support your analysis. Also, upload to the class OneDrive shared file a screenshot of a tweet that best represents your week. 

The Constant Campaign – Tuesday, September 11th (Blog #2)

In 2018, President Trump has appeared at a number of rallies in support of fellow Republicans seeking re-election in the upcoming midterm elections. What are his primary messages at these rallies? How are these messages similar to, and different from, his talking points in the 2016 election? Who is his audience and in what ways do his messages resonate with that audience? In your assessment, is he an effective communicator? Finally, why do political rallies and “stump” campaigning remain an important part of the political process? You must refer to at least one of the textbook readings assigned for today (9/11) along with a second reading posted on Blackboard for this week. You should also offer at least two examples of rally communication messages/strategies to support your arguments.