The Census Ad Campaign and the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations for Black Newspapers

(MoneyWatch)  Ad agencies Globalhue and DraftFCB and their client the Census Bureau are all frantically spinning their misguided decision to wring government propaganda posing as news from black newspapers, as noted by BNET on March 11. But that doesn't let them off the hook. Their statements all make sad, possibly racist, assumptions about black-owned and black-targeted newspapers that would never arise if we were talking about mainstream media.

I'm not a fan of George W. Bush's phrase, "the soft bigotry of low expectations," but this case looks like a textbook example.

The backstory: Globalhue (whose CEO Don Coleman is pictured) told black publishers in a letter that if they did not provide six news articles about the census in their papers then advertising buys would be "canceled immediately." That placed those newspapers in a position of providing tax-funded government propaganda posing as news, without disclosure to readers, in return for ad buys -- something that would never happen at The New York Times or USA Today.

The statements by the two companies and the Census Bureau -- published here in full after the jump -- all confirm that the scheme existed, but they attempt to justify it by saying that it was voluntary, "a standard industry practice," and that all newspapers were treated the same way.

Some of this just isn't true. Globalhue's statement says that the National Newspaper Publisher Association -- which represents black publishers -- was in on the scheme, and that in addition to six news articles the papers would also provide two editorials. In that sense, the scheme was worse than I first reported.

Second, it is simply not "standard" that newspapers supply coverage in return for ad buys -- not at mainstream (or "white," if you want that decoded) newspapers and news organizations.

Third, the notion that the scheme was voluntary stands in stark contrast to the letter sent by Globalhue to NNPA, which said:

In lieu of free ad space, all papers must agree to running six articles (preferably during hiatus weeks) about the Census 2010 as well as two editorials. If paper does not agree to the added value stipulations, buy will be canceled immediately.

Here's the bottom line: Black newspaper readers, and anyone who cares about the integrity of the news business in general, should be outraged by this. The NNPA was targeted for this scheme by Globalhue, a black ad agency, with the expectation that it would go along. And, according to the NNPA's own statement, they went along willingly, compromising their standards for money. I challenge Globalhue -- or DraftFCB -- to produce a letter sent to a mainstream news organization that contains a similar threat to cancel ad buys if they don't cough up pro-census headlines.

Globalhue guessed correctly there would be lower standards in black media. I don't know which is sadder: The fact that an ad agency whose sole mission is to stand up for black consumers lowered its standards at the first hurdle; or the fact that black publishers, whose sole mission is to serve their readers, thought this was a good idea.

Related:

• Census Ad Agency Demanded Newspaper Coverage for Cash

+++

Statement from Globalhue: March 15, 2010

Contact: Angela Spencer Ford [e-mail] 248-331-1147

GlobalHue's Statement Regarding NNPA Allegations

GlobalHue has long respected the Black Newspapers and their value to the Black community. We are however concerned about the recent allegations from some members of the National Newspaper Publisher Association (NNPA) ?€" also referred to as the Black Press - which was subcontracted by GlobalHue to negotiate and execute all Black newspaper buys for the 2010 Census.

In 2009, following a competitive selection process, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) was selected to manage the Black newspaper buy. The NNPA is headed by Mr. Danny Bakewell, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel. The NNPA was selected as a subcontractor because of their extensive knowledge about the Black newspaper business. The NNPA is receiving payment for their services, and Mr. Bakewell is one of two NNPA subcontractors actually conducting the work on behalf of the Census Bureau.

In close consultation with GlobalHue, NNPA conducted negotiations with media properties for ad placements. NNPA also made recommendations to GlobalHue on what the terms of the agreement with the media vendors should be. One of the items in the negotiations was the added value the media vendors would offer. All of the more than 3,800 media vendors participating in the 2010 Census media buy were asked to provide added value. This is a standard industry practice and an important factor in informing the public about the Census.

With regard to added value from the Black newspapers, in a proposal dated 12/31/2009, NNPA recommended that GlobalHue request participating Black newspapers promise the following:

"In lieu of free advertising added value, I recommend we ask all participating newspapers to promise to run, during the paid advertising campaign, at least 6 news articles and 2 editorials stressing the important of completing the 2010 Census. African American/Black readers believe in the Black Press. African American/Black readers have been guided by and represented by the Black Press for more than 100 years. The combination of paid advertising and the Black Press endorsement will have great success in increasing the completion ratio."

GlobalHue accepted the NNPA's added-value recommendations and issued insertion orders to all newspapers accordingly. The added value guidelines as recommended by the NNPA led to concerns by a few representatives of the Black newspaper community.

In response, GlobalHue amended the value added guidelines and new insertion orders were submitted to all of the newspapers that received the original insertion order. While the new insertion order asked that every paper make an effort to include articles/editorial pieces about the 2010 Census, it also made it clear there was no quid pro quo for advertising buy.

Of the $23 million Black Audience paid media plan, Black newspapers are receiving 11 percent of the ad dollars for this audience. At this time, 173 African American, African, Caribbean and Haitian newspapers in 64 markets across the country are being engaged in the buy.

# # #

Full statement from a "DraftFCB insider": "Global Hue did not mandate that any newspaper rep firms/newspapers had to provide any editorial coverage in exchange for a paid media buy, nor has Draftfcb. In fact, there are vendors that are receiving business that did not offer any added value, but were selected based on other aspects of their offerings.

It is considered standard industry practice to request added value from media vendors during the solicitation process. The goal of obtaining added value is to enhance the paid media message and hopefully increase the value of the investment. Added value generally consists of bonus inventory, waiving of incremental fees for production and editorial mentions.

Requests for added value are made during the RFP process, before negotiations are finalized. Media vendors are asked to include their offer for added value during their price proposal submission. While added value is one factor in the evaluation process, it is by no means ever a mandate in exchange for business."

+++

Statement from the U.S. Census Bureau: The National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA) was actually hired by DFCB and the Census Bureau last year to handle Black/African American newspaper media buys. The request for their members to provide the Census Bureau with added value originated with NNPA, which was paid $195,000 as one of the two contracted media buyers for the Black audience. In fact, all of the more than 3,800 media outlets selected in the 2010 Census advertising buy were asked to provide added value, which is a standard industry practice. Each media buyer made it clear that this was voluntary and that each media outlet would get credit for any previous coverage they may have run prior to the buy.

Black newspapers are receiving about 11 percent of the total ad dollars for this audience despite media consumption research showing that they only spend 6 percent of the their time reading newspapers. About 80 percent of the media budget is being targeted among popular Black television and radio programming.

Mindful of taxpayers dollars, the Census Bureau leveraged it's $133 million advertising campaign to secure nearly $30 million in free advertising ?€" all of which is an attempt to increase public awareness and motivate every household to mail back their 2010 Census forms. In fact, if everyone mailed back their form, taxpayers could reduce the cost of the census by $1.5 billion.