DAY 15: From political ads to the farm

OCT. 25, 2018 | Two dozen students rubbed sleep from their eyes early Thursday at the University of Minnesota to learn about political advertising from veteran journalism professors Chris Terry and Chris Ison. They said the 2018 Minnesota political campaigns were on track to spend a record $100 million in television advertising, about a third by candidates and the rest from advocacy groups. Perhaps the most interesting part of the class was a Skype interview with a Wisconsin politico who explained the growing importance of digital advertising in today’s rough-and-tumble political world.

Click here to learn more about the student MN AD WATCH project

Later, Bruce Hawker appeared at MPR studios in St. Paul to record an interview with Marco Werman, host of PRI’s The World radio show. They discussed A Hard Road and what people across America are telling the crew. The interview will be aired next week across the United States. (Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for more info.)

The crew then headed away from the Twin Cities into rural southeastern Minnesota where they overnighted near St. Charles, Minn., on a cattle farm operated for five generations by the Kaehler family.