Hours before the polls opened on Election Day, Knox College students in the Media and Politics class used a multimedia presentation to share their detailed analysis of three major political campaigns.

In the November 3 presentation, which was open to the public, students examined the contests for Illinois governor; one of Illinois' U.S. Senate seats; and the 17th Congressional District in northwestern Illinois, which includes Galesburg.

Assistant Professor of Journalism James Dyer teaches the class, which analyzes the veracity of political ads, campaign claims, and the media that serve as their platform.

For several weeks, students in the course interviewed area residents about the most important issues facing Illinois. The students studied the candidates, political advertisements, and media coverage of the campaigns and the issues.

They also took note of the forms of propaganda that campaigns use to get their messages out to potential voters.

"We just think of them as political ads, but they really are propaganda techniques," said Ellen Fischer, a Knox junior in the class.

Through this in-depth analysis, students have gained a greater understanding of the current political landscape and the role of the media, said Dyer, who also is chair of Knox's journalism program. Voter education is the central goal of both the class and the presentation, he added.

Knox senior Nafeeul Araf said he has learned a great deal about the "tactical approach of political ads and campaigning," especially from a candidate's point of view.

"The most important thing I learned from this class is to vet information -- cross-check and fact-check -- because candidates often present it in a simplistic or biased way," he added.

The Media and Politics course is taught every two years, tracking the election cycle. Students are introduced to the history of media and politics, leading up to the invention of television and the resulting transformation of the political arena.

Several guest speakers have visited the class during Fall Term 2014, including political reporter Bob Secter of the Chicago Tribune, political reporter Ed Tibbets of the Quad City Times, and government reporter Marty Hobe of the Galesburg Register-Mail.

The class, including Monday's presentation, is supported in part by a grant from the Center for News Literacy and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.