Newspaper Group Spent $1.6M on Lobbying

By: The Newspaper Association of America spent nearly $1.6 million lobbying the U.S. government last year on a raft of issues from telemarketing to advertising.

According to a disclosure form posted online last Tuesday by the Senate's public records office, the Newspaper Association of America spent $775,000 in the first half of 2007 and $803,000 in the second half on lobbying.

The organization, a trade group representing the nation's newspapers, lobbied the government on issues including whether drug companies are allowed to market directly to consumers, the laws forcing government agencies to provide reporters with requested information, rules on how many properties media companies can own and whether telemarketers can call people who do not want to be called.

The organization also paid $300,000 during the year to lobbying firms Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber and Covington & Burling LLP.

Lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches, under a federal law enacted in 1995.