This research explores the usability of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) online Public Inspection Files to measure the sources and quantities of political advertising on broadcast television. We compared data from FCC files with data purchased from a commercial vendor in a presidential caucus campaign that stretched across nine months, including advertising sponsored by over 40 groups and totaled tens of millions of dollars. The FCC-derived and commercial data were consistent in reporting the quantity of advertising, but sponsor identification was inconsistent between data sources, raising concerns about the FCC's ability to disclose reliable information about political ad spending.

中文翻译：

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政治广告的透明度：评估 FCC 在线公共检查文件系统的效用和有效性

这项研究探讨了联邦通信委员会 (FCC) 的在线公共检查文件的可用性，以衡量广播电视上政治广告的来源和数量。我们将 FCC 文件中的数据与在长达九个月的总统核心小组竞选中从商业供应商处购买的数据进行了比较，其中包括由 40 多个团体赞助的广告，总额达数千万美元。FCC 得出的数据和商业数据在报告广告数量方面是一致的，但数据源之间的赞助商身份不一致，这引发了人们对 FCC 披露有关政治广告支出的可靠信息的能力的担忧。