[EL] Campaign financing in a post-television era

[Hugh L Brady]

 I don't necessarily disagree with the op-ed but I am not so sure we are in
a post-television era. At least according to Nielsen, "92.4% of viewing
time was spent watching TVs and TV-connected devices."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2017/05/29/nielsen-reports-that-tv-crushes-mobile-for-time-spent-watching-video/#48592d5e40b1

Perhaps Netflix doesn't have ads (yet), but I believe Hulu Plus does. And
media companies need revenue. And if the ad gurus are correct, and your ads
need to be integrated into the content so that it's not an overt
commercial, then wouldn't you need as much, if not more, money as you did
in the golden era? And if Facebook and others halt or diminish political
advertising, doesn't that increase costs?

And even if the advertising needs lessen, other needs associated with a
statewide or national campaign -- travel, payroll, venues, etc. -- remain
constant or increase in a world in which you must try to engage
ever-growing numbers of voters. What about leadership efforts to contribute
to/fund allied campaigns at lower levels, i.e., the governor uses his
bankroll to help sympathetic legislative candidates because he can raise
money they can't. And what about all the political litigation funded by
private parties?

Absent some massive shift in the art of politics, I don't see the
prediction coming true anytime soon.

On Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 1:44 PM, Bill Maurer <wmaurer at ij.org> wrote:

> Professor Schultz,
>
>
>
> That was an excellent analysis and a challenging and novel conclusion. It
> raised a number of interesting questions for me.
>
>
>
> First, you and a number of other scholars from across the spectrum have
> pointed out that technology is making money less critical for effective
> campaigning. (And it’s not just television—GOTV efforts are considerably
> cheaper as well). I expect this trend will continue. As money becomes less
> crucial, I would imagine that its ability to corrupt or influence would
> diminish as well. Although the current crop of political actors are still
> influenced by the television era, it is certainly possible that new
> political actors will concentrate more on their ability to maximize the
> effectiveness of low-cost means of communication like social media and
> spend less time raising money. In other words, a problem caused by
> technology (getting enough money to campaign on television) would be solved
> by technology (it costs almost nothing to communicate with targeted groups
> of voters). At that point, why regulate money in politics at all?
>
>
>
> Second, I may be jumping the gun. The need for money will decrease, but it
> will not disappear, at least in the short term. If the issues that gave
> rise to the desire to regulate money in politics remain, but are
> considerably diminished, how do you think campaign finance regulations
> should change? Your op-ed argues that the fact that money is less crucial
> to campaigns means that money is no longer as strongly tied to the ability
> to effectively speak and First Amendment protections for spending money in
> campaigns should therefore diminish. In other words, the ability to
> regulate the factor is increased, but the need to do so is decreased. How
> should a less important factor in campaigns be regulated if it is no longer
> (or at least significantly less) constitutionally protected?
>
>
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
>
> Bill Maurer
>
>
>
> *From:* Law-election [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu]
> *On Behalf Of *Schultz, David A.
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 27, 2018 6:48 PM
> *To:* law-election at uci.edu
> *Subject:* [EL] Campaign financing in a post-television era
>
>
>
> My latest oped.
>
> http://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/371018-in-our-post-
> television-age-a-new-opening-for-campaign-finance-reform
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing list
> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
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>



-- 
Hugh L. Brady
T (512) 289-0535 | F (512) 857-1016
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