YouTube, land of the free and home of the, well, really free. At least when it comes to political ads and any shred of responsibility for their content, acording to a segment on last night’s All Things Considered. Here’s an example from the race for Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District:
Ron Kind even spent your tax dollars to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia.
Oh, my. I must say, that’s one sentence I never expected to write on this site. For more excitement, listen to the piece. Besides describing mainstream campaigns’ use of online ads and the fact that video can occasionally backfire, it talks about how YouTube can get national attention for an obscure candidate, particularly if he or she does something outrageous. Like accuse his opponent of being a sex merchant because of a vote over NIH research.
– cpd