An Examination of Television Political Advertising before The 2012 Presidential Elections

Abstract

The study is an analysis of the content of political party television advertisements preceding the 2012 general elections. The study, among others, aimed to find out which of the two major political parties, the ruling NDC and the opposition NPP, relied on negative advertising to achieve their aims. It also sought to find out which issues the two parties focused on. The study was anchored in the functional theory of political campaign discourse. A content analysis of seventy-one television advertisements was conducted. The study found that the NPP relied more on negative advertising whereas the NDC relied more on acclaims. It also found that both parties focused their advertisements on the issues rather than focus on their candidates. A recommendation this study makes is that a trend analysis of political advertisements from the 1992 elections to date should be conducted to give an idea of how political campaign advertisements have evolved over the years.