• Adweek, Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:30 PM

Fear-mongering and mudslinging have become so common in political ads that voters tune out candidates' stances on issues--and the media only make the problem worse, according to some industry watchers. But there are also positive developments: the rise of online social networks and bloggers who take politicians to task in ways the mainstream media seldom do.

At a recent Ad Club event, Arianna Huffington said that fear tactics are the easiest way to appeal to the electorate. "I'm not going to make any partisan comments," she told the audience. "But we all know who appealed on that level [in the last election] and who did not." And as a result, Democrats have allowed their platform to be defined by the opposition and a news media that "is suffering from attention deficit disorder."

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