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Some TV ads, like this one claiming that proposed regulation of shortterm housing rentals would encourage “spying” on neighbors, misled voters.
SUMMER 2016
ISSUE 19
B
THE RISING
section
COST OF WINNING
DECEPTIVE POLITICAL ADS ON TV GO LOCAL PAGE B1 COMPETITION IN 2015: THE BIGGEST SPENDERS ALMOST ALWAYS WON PAGE B1 VIDEO TECHNOLOGY FACILITATES TELEVISION AD TRACKING PAGE B3 HALF-TRUTHS, SLANTED NARRATIVES DELUGED VIEWERS — NEWS? NOT SO MUCH PAGE B3 THE MOST MISLEADING POLITICAL ADS ON TELEVISION PAGE B4-B5 VIDEO SEARCH IMPROVING, BUT OBSTACLES REMAIN FOR ANALYZING TV NEWS PAGE B5
VOTES
2015 ELECTION WAS THE SPENDIEST IN NEARLY TWO DECADES PAGE B6 DATA ENTRY ERRORS, INCONSISTENT CODING MUDDLE PROCESS OF TRACKING CAMPAIGN FINANCE PAGE B8
Local tech and real estate interests take sides in City Hall, leading to record-breaking election spending
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an Francisco last year saw a high-water mark for spending on elections, with nearly $28 million flowing into slickly produced campaigns that flooded the airwaves and filled mailboxes with questionable claims about ballot measures and candidates. But the money was not evenly distributed. Airbnb, the short-term rental startup, crushed a proposal to regulate its industry, spending a whopping $9 million. The company’s efforts were endorsed by Mayor Ed Lee, whose allied campaigns for other issues and candidates dominated almost every race they invested in. The Public Press partnered with the TV Archive, a project of the San Francisco-based Internet Archive, to examine the facts, half-truths and misstatements that aired before November 2015’s pivotal election. Perhaps surprisingly in our tech-soaked city, political campaigns are still investing heavily in persuading voters on television,
BART CONSULTANT IS LIAISON BETWEEN HOMELESS PEOPLE AND POLICE, SERVICES PAGE A4
FOR REPORTERS, 8 TIPS TO COVER HOMELESSNESS RESPONSIBLY PAGE A4
HOUSING-RIGHTS ACTIVISTS CONCERNED ABOUT STARTUP THAT FACILITATES BUYOUTS OF RENT-CONTROLLED TENANTS PAGE A5 FOR ONE WOMAN, LIFE AFTER GETTING OFF THE STREETS PAGE A5
PUBLIC HIGH-SPEED INTERNET IN S.F.? PRICETAG: AT LEAST $867M PAGE A3
BARK BEETLES RAVAGE THOUSANDS OF WEAKENED TREES IN CALIFORNIA PAGE A6 S.F. JOINS WATER TRAIL, ENABLING LONGER TRIPS AROUND THE BAY PAGE A6 UBER, LYFT MIGHT HELP BOOST PUBLIC TRANSIT USE PAGE A7 NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS, WORKERS, DRUG DEALERS STRUGGLE ALONGSIDE ONE ANOTHER PAGE A7 TENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD’S ANNUAL FESTIVAL DISSOLVES AFTER 25 YEARS PAGE A8
san francisco public press
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CALIFORNIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE LAW PRAISED, BUT EXPENSIVE PAGE A3
STORIES BEGIN ON PAGE B1
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and investing in savvy national campaign consultants. At the same time, TV stations’ news programs devoted just a few seconds to independent coverage of the elections for each minute of political advertising. The ever-increasing involvement of moneyed interests worries ethics experts and has spurred reforms to rein in fundraising by lobbyists. While emblematic of the threat of corporate influence peddling in City Hall, lobbyists themselves raise comparatively little, and limiting their involvement would only scratch the surface of the spending expected in contests in 2016 and beyond.