Leap 3 Reflection Essay

Brianna Denny

COM250 Leap 3

Reflection Essay

After completing this project, I was able to gain a better understanding of the importance of advertising in a political campaign. While I was aware that it was important prior to my personal research, the sources included a plethora of information that I did not fully understand. To begin, I wanted to understand the weight that advertising had generally on political campaigns. I felt that there were several mixed emotions and opinions regarding the subject, and through research I wanted to form an opinion that I was able to firmly defend. Through research, I found several articles that discussed a variety of subjects relating to the question I posed. They provided context about what advertising meant in a political context, and gave a detailed description about its level of importance within a political campaign. Other articles provided a description of the ways in which an advertisement is successful. Particularly regarding the year 2024, and how large of a role it’s going to play in the new political climate. That was extremely helpful to me in my research, as I wanted to be able to understand the level of which it would impact a politician’s success rate. There were also a number of sources that touched on the psychological aspects of advertising as well, which I placed a lot of emphasis on throughout my research project. The American Psychology Association touched on the subconscious mind, and the way in which a successful advertisement in media resonates within it.

This project not only assisted me in learning more about political advertisements and their importance, but it allowed me to indulge in my own personal journey of learning. I became extremely interested in the aforementioned subject and began to take on the research with pride. I was able to relate certain sources to others, and begin to put together puzzle pieces of a larger result. My inquiry question became extremely different than I believed it was going to be after spending time looking at several different ways of explaining it.

Throughout the course, I was exposed to a number of different subjects relating to media and democracy. Within those subjects, I was able to relate the sources and knowledge I gained from my research. This helped me in building my personal opinion, and forming some general ideas about the topic. As I had much less understanding of what the importance of media advertising in a political setting was.

I completed the project by collecting a series of sources, and annotating them in order to recall the information I wanted to review and compare for the video and the venn diagram. When creating the video portion, I chose to showcase my venn diagram, and discuss each section as well as touch on the different topics I learned about during my research process. This was helpful in tying the information together, and coming to a conclusion on my own.

In summary, I believe that advertising plays a crucial role in political campaigns, and is so much more important than people may even realize. It is subconsciously registered with the psyche of the consumer, and truly shifts the voters’ beliefs and opinions very much. It is important for these professionals to continue to make an effort with their controlled media, specifically their social media accounts. As the presence of new voters is very important to track, and a lot of Gen Z individuals get their news from social media, and place a lot of emphasis on their social media presence.