Here's a look at how much the government has spent on public relations
(PR) campaigns both by state and over time. Thanks to Ron from
Akkam's Razor
for providing the graphics and compiling the data. Note that PR
includes, but is not limited to, radio and television commercials,
direct mail, billboards, internet campaigns, and election materials.
Government PR Spending,
2001-2005:
Clearly we can see spikes during the periods following 9/11/01, the lead
up to the Iraq war and occupation in March of 2003, and during the
months leading up to the presidential election on November 2nd of 2004.
Government PR Spending by
State, 2003-04:
Although the map does show PR spending per capita, clearly the
spending seems to be higher on a per person basis in the states with the
higher populations. This may simply be because the more people that
there are in a state, the more people they are likely to talk to (a sort
of word-of-mouth campaign), or for some other reason.
Here is the raw data used to
compile the graphics:
