Creating a Campaign Commercial

NAME: ______

DATE: ______

MASS MEDIA

CREATING A CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL

SS.7.C.2.10 Examine the impact of media, individuals, and interest groups on monitoring and influencing government.

SS.7.C.2.11 Analyze the media and political communications (bias, symbolism, propaganda).

Directions: Below is a brief description of two candidates who are running for a Senate seat in Congress. You will be assigned one of the candidates. According to the statistics used by the U.S. Census Bureau in the graph on page 338 of your textbook, television is the most widely used form of mass media across all age groups. Therefore, you are going to create a commercial for your candidate.

Your commercial must include:

At least 3 of the propaganda techniques discussed on page 345.
Must include at least 6 frames with coloredgraphics.
Each frame must have the script written underneath.
Be creative!
Optional: Videotape your commercial and play it back for your class.

Candidate A
John Stevenson / Candidate B
Donna Robinson
John Stevenson attended HarvardUniversity where he majored in Business Administration and graduated in 2002. Shortly after his graduation, he decided to enter the military because he wanted to help fight the War on Terror for his country. John lost his uncle in the WorldTradeCenter attack. He served 3 tours of duty in Iraq. On his third tour, his convoy was bombed and he was left paralyzed from the waist down. He now chooses to fight his battles with his mind and would like to represent the people of his state in the Senate.
He is a strong advocate for the second amendment (“Right to Bear Arms”) and believes in the death penalty, especially in terrorism cases.
John would fight to provide funding to keep the space program running in the United States. He fears that little by little we are handing over all of our power and achievements to other countries.
John believes that everyone has the right to formal union or marriage, regardless of their sexual orientation. He is married with 2 children.
Lastly, John believes that knowledge is power and our government should be allocating more funds for the education systems around the country. He believes that this is important to keep in mind who will be running the nation in the years ahead. / Donna Robinson attended the University of Florida and studied sociology. She went on to earn her masters at the University of Florida in political science. Donna was involved in public service while in school and continued her service outside of school. She helped to organize a “Halfway House” program for juvenile delinquents who had served their sentence and needed some help in transitioning back into regular society. She is a strong advocate for the “rehabilitation” of lawbreakers, rather than punishment. She is completely against the death penalty in any situation.
Donna realizes that illegal immigration is a problem in our country, but wants to develop a realistic plan that allows illegal immigrants the opportunity to become naturalized citizens. She realizes that “scare tactics” are not going to work. Just as she developed a transitioning center for juveniles, Donna would like to do the same for illegal immigrants. Ideally, she would like to provide them with education classes, language classes, and technical training. She believes these measures will help them to become effective contributors in our society.
Donna believes that our government went astray when we turned our backs to God and religion and she wants to bring that back to the Capitol. It is because of her strong religious beliefs that she does not believe gay marriages or unions should be legalized.

CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL

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