June 6, 2006

In This Issue:

• Don't Touch that Dial: More Political Ads Coming
• Boom and Bust: Hiring as Hot Potato
• Fado Photos

Don't Touch that Dial: More Political Ads Coming
TV viewers in the Chicago area saw over 8,500 political ads during the primary campaign, at a cost to campaigns of $12 million, according to our analysis of ad contracts. If it's any consolation, two of the top three spendors lost their primaries. Gov. Blagojevich is still running ads - his third wave of post-primary ads is on the air now - and he has now spent more since the primary than he did before it. For the details, read our issue briefing.

Boom and Bust: Hiring as Hot Potato
The media has been full of stories about whether the governor's hiring practices, shortly after taking office and continuing late into his current term, were above board and in accordance with the law. We can claim no special knowledge of what went on, but we have put out a summary, chasing the story with the rest of the media pack on our blog.

Fado Photos
Our campaign ad film festival was great fun. Thanks to everybody who helped us to gather the campaign ads for the film festival and especially to Aaron Freeman, who explained them all to us. Thanks to Mike Lawrence, Newt Minnow and the Peoria Journal-Star for doing so much work worthy of tribute. Thanks to our sponsors and our host committee, and to everybody who came. Photos of the event are now on our website.

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ICPR Spotcheck is a publication of The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, a non-partisan public interest group that educates, conducts research, and advocates reforms to promote public participation in government, address the role of money in politics, and encourage integrity, accountability, and transparency in government.

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