Encyclopedia Britannica article on Ad Watch (below)Ad watch, a term used to describe efforts by the media to report on and evaluate the veracity of political advertising. Although the media have long described advertising during political campaigns, Washington Post columnist David Broder is often credited with having shaped the rise of modern-day ad watches by urging fellow journalists to be more watchful of political advertising messages and by making coverage of advertising claims a standard feature of campaign news after the intensely negative nature of the 1988 U.S. presidential campaign. Ad watches often centre on televised ads, but they also evaluate all forms of political advertising with the aim of providing citizens some assistance in processing and evaluating the claims made.
