NRA Using Newspaper Bag Ads to Oppose Obama -- But Some Papers Decline

By: Joe Strupp A National Rifle Association effort to place anti-Obama ads on newspaper bags is being rejected by at least three prominent newspapers.

But the NRA, which is targeting the ads in at least three states, is finding success in other dailies, including some that plan to run the polyurethane-bag based ads the day before Election Day.

In Kentucky, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported today that similar NRA bag ads are slated for seven papers in Kentucky and Indiana, including the Herald-Leader.

The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk reports that it had rejected the proposal, adding that the Richmond Times-Dispatch had also declined to place its papers in the ad-covered bags.

"The Richmond Times-Dispatch leaders initially told employees that the paper intended to accept the ads," the Virginian-Pilot reported Oct. 25. "But when contacted about it this week, the newspaper's strategic marketing director, Frazier Millner, said the Richmond newspaper 'will not run the ad... for the NRA on Election Day or any other day.'"

The story also quoted Virginian-Pilot business development manager Alan Levenstein saying: "We want to make sure that we provide equity for all sides, make sure that there is a level playing field. We want to make sure that we don't look, as a newspaper, that we're endorsing one viewpoint or another."

The story added that, "Because it takes about six weeks to print the plastic bags, permitting a group with one view to purchase that space could deny a group with an opposing view a chance to buy the same space before the election. As a matter of policy, The Pilot would sell space to candidates and interest groups of all persuasions in its print pages, which unlike the plastic bags can accommodate multiple ads in one edition."

Style Weekly, a Richmond alterative paper, reported that the proposal had drawn opposition in the newsroom at the Times-Dispatch.

"At a newsroom staff meeting Oct. 21, according to T-D sources, reporters and editors were informed that the daily paper?s Election Day issue would include a special advertisement wrapping that day?s edition," Style Weekly reported today. "The ad, paid for by the National Rifle Association, was a blistering attack against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ? the wrap, with a predominantly blue color scheme, was shown to newsroom staff during the Tuesday meeting. Staffers were told that the ad would go out with the Tuesday, Nov. 4, edition ? the ad caused deep concerns in the newsroom as well as with some people in corporate leadership, sources say. They worried the wrap might suggest a news bias against Obama that runs counter to the longstanding separaton of news, opinion and advertising that is central to maintaining public trust in any news operation."

In Kentucky, meanwhile, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported today,
"The NRA Political Victory Fund paid for bags using the ad for the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Bowling Green Daily News and the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise on Nov. 3 and the Kentucky Enquirer in Covington on Nov. 1," the Herald-Leader reported. "Some newspapers, including The Courier-Journal in Louisville, would not accept the polyurethane bags?not because of their advertising messages but because they would run so close to Election Day."

The Herald-Leader added that it "decided to distribute the bag because of its belief that free speech extends to advertising." Publisher Timothy M. Kelly said in a statement: "We believe everyone has the right to express his or her opinion leading up to the election."