The Political TV Ad Archive set to launch Jan. 22
The Internet Archive will launch on January 22 the Political TV Ad Archive, an online, free digital library resource where reporters can find federal level political TV ads in key primary states in the 2016 elections, married with fact checking and information on the organizations funding the ads, and downloadable metadata.
The launch will be held in the National Press Club's Murrow Room, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The National Press Club Journalism Institute is cosponsoring this panel event.
Tickets, which are free, are required to attend the launch. To reserve tickets, click here.
Come hear about what Internet Archive and its partners have found so far:
● When and where have ads aired?
● Which ads contain the most egregious truth stretching or full-on lies?
● Which candidates have been the focus of the most ads?
● Who is paying for the ads, or is that information hidden?
Panelists at the launch include:
Roger Macdonald, Director, Television Archive, Internet Archive
Kathy Kiely, Board of Directors, National Press Club Journalism Institute
John Dunbar, Deputy Executive Editor, Center for Public Integrity
Robert Maguire, Political Nonprofit Investigator, Center for Responsive Politics
Lori Robertson, Managing Editor, FactCheck.org
Louis Jacobson, Senior Correspondent, PolitiFact
Glenn Kessler, Editor, The Washington Post's Fact Checker
Nancy Watzman, Managing Editor, Television Archive, Internet Archive
Political TV ad spending is expected to be in the billions. Yet the same local stations that air the ads provide very little solid reporting on politics. Even fewer correct misinformation in the ads. In partnership with trusted journalistic organizations, and with the support of the Knight News Challenge, an initiative of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the new Political TV Ad Archive will help reporters stop the spin cycle by providing contextual data and information to evaluate ads.
The Political TV Ad Archive is monitoring television in 20 key markets in eight states, starting with such locations as Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City in Iowa, and Boston and Manchester in New England. The project is using experimental audio fingerprint technology to track political TV ads for federal races.
On the new website, journalists can find embeddable videos of the ads along with downloadable metadata giving them the scoop on which ads have aired, where, and when. Data will also include information on the sponsor whether it's a super PAC, 501(c) group that does not disclose donors, candidates sponsored ad, or some other entity as well as the candidates targeted.
For more information on this event, contact:
Nancy Watzman
303.514.0888
[email protected]