Among concerns of disinformation and the role of radio and cable TV in amplifying “fake news,” Yochai Benkler says there’s scarce evidence of the impact of such ads.
“There’s little evidence that targeted ads have the power to to change minds or votes, says Harvard law professor Yochai Benkler, co-author of the book ‘Network Propaganda.’ Belief in targeted ads in general is more faith-based than evidence-based, he says. Advertisers assume the targeting causes people to buy things — though this is far from proven,” the article says.