Op-Ed: Misleading political TV ads are filling up California’s ‘news deserts’
The political advertising cycle is all about one thing: money.
And political ads don’t change in any way what their intent is.
Money buys ads.
What’s more, the money to run political ads isn’t limited to the candidates, the media companies and the special interests. The ads, which cost far more than any political blog or article, buy space in places where the voters have no way of getting their political message in the media outlets they want.
A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that about 50% of campaign-related advertising runs on television, with the overwhelming majority of the ads being negative.
This election year, California’s political media deserts are growing with each passing day. So far this cycle, the Newsom campaign has spent $2.8 million (including $1.1 million on ads), according to the latest figures provided by the California Secretary of State’s Office.
The governor’s race is on pace to be the largest election-year ad spending in California history, with $6 million going toward the campaign through September, or more than half of the overall amount for the entire campaign.
The most expensive ad this cycle so far is one that promises to send the minimum wage to $15 by 2020. The text in the ad reads, “If I have any magic money, the governor’s office could fund a 15-state campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, by the end of the 2020 legislative session.”
It also includes the line, “Gov. Newsom, please support the Fair Wages for All Campaign.”
A spokesman for the Newsom campaign says they thought the ad was “an ad for the governor.” The candidate in question, Newsom, says he has never claimed to be for the Fair Minimum Wage, and never asked for the ad
