Dark Money, Media and the 2012 Campaign

New America Foundation
Friday, November 16, 2012
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The first presidential campaign since the 2010 Supreme Court's Citizens United decision resulted in the most expensive election season ever. Anonymous and unaccountable donors poured in unprecedented amounts of money. While new media, newspapers and radio collected some of this money, the lion's share ended up in the bank accounts of television broadcast companies. For months the public was bombarded with a tsunami of ads from political campaigns, Super PACs and other shadowy groups - ads that in many cases were only loosely connected to the truth.

Aside from creating windfall profits for broadcasters in swing states, what impact did dark money have on democratic discourse in the 2012 election at the state and the national level? With so much money in the mix, can media really fulfill its role to watchdog politics and separate fact from fiction? Is there evidence that Citizens United needs to be overturned? Have new rules to improve broadcaster transparency and disclosure helped? And are there other reforms that need to be on the table before the next election season?

Opening Remarks
Michael Copps (former FCC Commissioner)
Senior Advisor, Media and Democracy Reform Initiative, Common Cause

Panelists
Matea Gold
Washington Correspondent, Los Angelest Times

Ellen S. Miller
Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation

Jason Reifler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Georgia State University

Craig Aaron
President & CEO, Free Press

Moderator
Mark Lloyd
Director, Media Policy Initiative, New America Foundation

To RSVP :
http://newamerica.net/events/2012/dark_money_media_2012_campaign

For questions, contact Stephanie Gunter at New America at (202) 596-3367 or gunter@newamerica.net