An Indiana Candidate Buys $140,000 of Newspaper Ads

By: Jennifer Saba As Election Day draws near, newspapers in Indiana are hooking some of those always-tough-to-get political ad dollars.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitch Daniels made a $140,000 statewide newspaper buy handled by the Gannett Co. Two full-page ads ran on October 3, 7, and 13 in 24 Indiana newspapers, including five Gannett papers.

"[Newspapers] are a highly cost effective way of reaching Indiana voters," said Christie Luther, a staffer on the Daniels' campaign, who added they were looking for a quick and cheap way to reach a lot of people. This is the first newspaper ad buy that the candidate had made on this scale.

The Daniels campaign turned to print after the incumbent Democratic candidate, Governor Joseph Kernan, ran what Luther described as a "smear campaign" on television. "We ran these ads to clear up the issues," she said.

So far, the Daniels camp has been pleased with the response, easy to gauge as the ads list campaign contact information in order to get feedback. "We've heard from folks all over the state," Luther said.

The bulk of campaign money has been spent on TV. Daniels has his own reality show that runs on local Indiana stations.

Dave Wilson, who handles political and advocacy development at the Indianapolis Star, said his paper had approached both campaigns back in February.

Though Gannett spearheaded the network -- working in conjunction with the Hoosier State Press Association -- the company did not take any cut in ad revenues from other papers. Wilson said that Gannett got $53,000 of the buy, with the Star receiving $37,000.