NEW
Ad Watch Columns
(evaluating spots 
for accuracy)

Background/Introduction/Standards: 

Increasingly today, getting elected means skillful use of the media by the candidates to get their message across. Politicians now employ advertising consultants to convey their messages to voters, sometimes spending millions of dollars in the process. 
 
It is critically important that students, our future voters and leaders, learn to understand the role and influence of media in the political process. (Do your students understand, for example, the history of the recent Campaign Finance Reform efforts?)

To that end, many state standards for Social Studies and Citizenship include the need for students to understand how media influences politics and decision making. 

National: 

Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: II. Thematic Strands
V  Individuals, Groups and Institutions
(Example: the media/press as an institution )

Excerpt from NCSS Standards Executive Summary:
Thomas Jefferson, among others, emphasized that the vitality of a democracy 
depends upon the education and participation of its citizens. While such active 
civic participation includes becoming informed about issues and voting in elections, it can take many other diverse forms relating to the United States government, its history, its people, and its neighbors around the world.

Site Updated on: 12/06/2007