By: Ellen Liburt A Texas Two-Step: Vote Now, Read Often
In an effort to drive more voters to the booths this Election Day - and, some cynics might add, to its pages - the Houston Chronicle has launched an unusual ad campaign called VOTE 2000, which asks readers to consider how they would feel if they lost the right to vote.
"Voter turnout in this country is the lowest it has been in decades," said Joycelyn Marek, vice president of marketing and electronic products for the 553,462-circulation Hearst Corp. daily. "Therefore, we feel this is a major community issue to address."
The Chronicle tackles it with a three-part campaign using billboards and in-paper ads that encourage people to form opinions on issues and become better citizens by participating more in their communities. The Chronicle isn't telling readers what to think, Marek said, only asking them to think.
Phase I began Sept. 11 and urged people to register to vote by the state's deadline. It included postage-paid registration forms inserted for a month in every Sunday paper. Phase II runs Oct. 10-27 and features ads reading, "Don't Vote (Blindly). Read Today's Chronicle." Phase III encourages voter turnout and will conclude Nov. 7 with placards at the polls telling voters they made the right decision and signed "The Chronicle."
Acknowledging in a Sept. 17 editorial that "many will see this campaign as one of self-promotion," Chronicle Editorial Columnist Jane Ely contended that the campaign's creators had a loftier goal in mind: "They think this effort is helping democracy by empowering as many informed people as it can. ... [W]hile many ... will see this as specifically aimed at the presidential election, the campaign designers consider it a way to use the paper as a vehicle to make people think about issues and work toward becoming a better community."
Ellen Liburt (eliburt@editorandpublisher.com) is a reporter for E&P.
Copright 2000, Editor & Publisher.
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