What We Do
Since its founding in 2010, the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) has become the “go to” source for real-time, non-partisan information on the volume, spending, sponsorship and content of political advertising across the United States.
Our goals are to track all election-related advertising by source (group, corporation, union, party, or candidate) and to provide comparative analysis enhancing the ability of journalists, citizens and scholars to hold governments and special interests accountable.
See our latest report here, or read our year-end summaries of campaign advertising in the 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections.
Press Releases
Latest WMP Research
2018 Political Advertising Year-end Summary Published in PS (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 27, 2019 — New research published in PS by Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz and Travis N. Ridout, co-directors of the Wesleyan...Digital Spending Dominates in Early 2020 Presidential Race
Candidates Have Spent $61 Million on Facebook and Google and Just $11 Million on TV (MIDDLETOWN, CT) September 19, 2019 – Spending by presidential contenders on ads on Facebook and...Tracking Political Ads in Smaller Media Markets
Some districts harder to track than others, but not many competitive races are affected (MIDDLETOWN, CT) July 24, 2019 – The Wesleyan Media Project obtains ad data from Kantar Media/CMAG,...
Team & Partners
Who we are
The Wesleyan Media Project is directed by Professors Erika Franklin Fowler, Michael M. Franz and Travis N. Ridout. The Project Manager is Laura Baum. An outstanding group of students from all three institutions support the project through various activities.
Read MoreThe Data
Press releases
We track all broadcast advertisements aired in presidential, congressional and many lower-level campaigns in real-time. During election years, we regularly post press releases detailing the content, volume and estimated cost of political advertisements.
Read MoreWMP News
News from the project
Check out the latest from our blog featuring a variety of content related to media and advertising analyses including project updates, short commentaries, summaries, links to interesting research and occasional guest posts.
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