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Wesleyan Media Project

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Advertising Tone Spotlight (9/1/24-11/5/24) Uncategorized

Advertising Tone Spotlight (9/1/24-11/5/24)

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) January 7, 2026 – The Wesleyan Media Project is releasing the first Advertising Tone Spotlight. Below, we show the count of tone by sponsor during the general election period. This post covers tone by adtype  (candidates, parties, issue-election, and private citizens) aired on broadcast TV in U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and Presidential races from September 1, 2024, to November 5, 2024.JTVCdGFibGUlMjBpZCUzRDc4MiUyMCUyRiU1RA==Data reported here from Vivvix/CMAG do not cover local cable buys, only broadcast television, national network and national cable buys. The Wesleyan Media Project provides real-time tracking and analysis of all political television advertising in an effort to…
Wesleyan Media Project
January 7, 2026
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Cross-Platform Election Advertising Transparency Initiative (CREATIVE) Research Published Politics

Cross-Platform Election Advertising Transparency Initiative (CREATIVE) Research Published

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 24, 2025 – New research published from the Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) in collaboration with Privacy Tech Lab at Wesleyan University describes a new  cross-platform digital advertising dataset.  The data cover federal election activity from the 2022 midterm general election period for Meta and Google. Published in Scientific Data and funded in part by the National Science Foundation, “Comparable 2022 General Election Advertising Datasets from Meta and Google” (open access link) seeks to provide a starting point for scholars seeking to understand, describe, and assess the impact of the 2022 digital advertising landscape on the two largest…
Wesleyan Media Project
June 24, 2025
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New Studies Published on Television and Digital Advertising in the 2024 Elections 2024 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

New Studies Published on Television and Digital Advertising in the 2024 Elections

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) June 24, 2025 – New research published by the Wesleyan Media Project provides two summaries of political advertising activity in the 2024 U.S. elections. The two pieces appear in the latest issue of The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics and are both freely available through open access. The first examines advertising trends on television across all sponsors (open access link) while the second hones in on digital activity on Meta (including Facebook and Instagram), Google (including YouTube, display and search), and Snapchat by federal candidates (open access link).Key takeaways from the publications are as…
Wesleyan Media Project
June 24, 2025
Dark Money on TV in the 2024 Elections 2024 ElectionsReleases

Dark Money on TV in the 2024 Elections

(MIDDLETOWN, CT) March 14, 2025 - The Wesleyan Media Project (WMP) has examined the sponsorship of advertising on television in federal races during the 2023-24 election cycle.  In this report, the WMP is focusing on advertising by outside groups, looking specifically at different group types.  In partnership with OpenSecrets, the Wesleyan Media Project classifies groups in two ways.  First, we identify groups by their tax and regulatory classifications, such as Super PACs, traditional PACs, or non-profit 501c4s.  Second, we label groups based on their donor disclosure.  Classifications on this measure fall into three types: full-disclosure groups (meaning they disclose contributor…
Wesleyan Media Project
March 14, 2025