KMHD billboard above OPB's
Macadam headquarters

Two dozen billboards have popped up around town. Banners hang along NW Lovejoy. And your next cup of coffee could wear call letters on its sleeve.

Oregon Public Broadcasting is providing KMHD (89.1) with a bigger promotional budget than the jazz station has ever received, now that it's housed in OPB's Portland headquarters. The station's ratings have also been on an upward trend lately.

KMHD, whose operations were moved to OPB last August, is still licensed to Mt. Hood Community College, for which it was named. The new media campaign was created by Leopold & Ketel. Advertisments will also appear in print.

Communications Director John Bell tells OMC, "We hope folks love [the campaign] as much as we and tune in to KMHD."

The Oregonian's first A1 ad

The Oregonian has placed an ad on page A1 for the first time in its modern publication. Taking three column inches in the lower-right corner, the display ad promotes the Clam Cannery Hotel in Port Townsend, Washington. The words "paid advertisement" appear above the ad while a black border separates it from its surroundings.

A more prominent form of advertising, the spadea, has been wrapping front pages since last August. But while that format obscures half of the front page, then-Executive Editor Peter Bhatia pointed out upon its introduction that those ads have "no impact on the amount of news in the paper or the amount of space devoted to news."

American newspapers are increasingly placing paid ads on page one. Among the top five newspapers by circulation, only the Washington Post abstains from A1 advertising. The New York Times began the practice last year.

Amid a nationwide advertising recession and after repeated buyout offers, The Oregonian recently warned of its first newsroom layoffs. New publisher Chris Anderson recently said that the paper is "adjusting our expenses to match up with our revenue."

"No on 66/67" spadea as it
appeared on Sunday

There has been no shortage of advertising in advance of next Tuesday's special election on tax measures 66 and 67. Some of that advertising has been controversial, but this week, the controversy has surrounded one of the media outlets that accepted that advertising.

On Sunday and Wednesday, The Oregonian's front page was wrapped by a spadea, a double-sided format that covers half of the front page and all of the "A" section's back page. Below The Oregonian's nameplate and a "paid advertisement" disclaimer are the large, bold words, "The Oregonian's editorial board urges voters to VOTE NO on Measures 66 and 67."

Pat McCormick, spokesperson for Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes, says his organization inquired about the spadea before The Oregonian's January 4 "vote no" editorial. At the time, however, the paper's advertising department told them that The Oregonian did not accept political ads in the spadea format. After the editorial, McCormick says lobbyist Mark Nelson had the campaign's media-buying firm make another effort to secure the spadea, which they were successful at doing.

But while The Oregonian's endorsement was what prompted the campaign's second push for a spadea, publisher Chris Anderson repeatedly stressed to OMC that the paper's decision to run the ad "had nothing to do with the endorsement — not at all."

Anderson says that he and then-president Pat Stickel decided in December to accept political spadeas in the current election, before they made an endorsement, and he says they made the decision without discussing their editorial position. He says he does not know whether there had previously been a policy not to accept such ads.

But Mario van Dongen, director of sales and marketing at The Oregonian, says that there was indeed such a policy, and that the policy was his own. He says that the sales department would have known of the policy if someone had inquired with them, but that it was not a written company position that the president or publisher would necessarily have known about. He says that Stickel received an inquiry about a political ad on the spadea while Van Dongen was away, so, after consultation with Anderson, the decision to accept it was made without him.

Van Dongen opposed political spadeas because "a political ad might take advantage of the placement and make it look like it's a newspaper statement." He says controlling the content of a political ad is difficult, because it can become a slippery slope toward censoring it. McCormick says the negotiations they did have included matters such as the placement of the "paid advertisement" disclaimer, as well as an agreement that The Oregonian's logo would only appear on pages that also included a summary of the paper's editorial statement.

In a publisher's note that ran in Sunday morning's opinion section, Anderson wrote that the paper is "willing to make the front-page spadea available to advertisers on both sides of these ballot measures, subject to our final approval."

Elana Guiney, spokesperson for the Yes campaign, says her organization is considering such an ad. But she says that, "especially in Sunday's edition, it was hard to tell at first that [the spadea] was an advertisement." The second spadea on Wednesday was similar, but "paid advertisement" appeared in bold, a change that Anderson says he specifically requested. The bottom of each page also included the words, "Paid for by Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes," a disclosure that only appeared on the back page of Sunday's ad. Van Dongen says that that change was also made for clarity.

McCormick says the ads were technically purchased by the Northwest Grocery Association as an in-kind contribution to his organization. Disclosures about who paid for an ad have not been required by state law since a 2001 change by the state legislature, and a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office says the disclosure that did run is ok, regardless of who specifically made the payment.

Additionally, as of this year, campaigns no longer have to disclose who they advertise with or for how much, as The Portland Mercury reported after trying to find the price of the No campaign's spadea purchase. Northwest Grocery Association president Joe Gilliam says it is his organization's policy not to comment on their expenditures during a campaign, while Anderson says that his paper does not disclose its rate sheet.

Illustration of a spadea ad,
from The Oregonian

Oregon Media Central, however, has confirmed figures that were first reported by progressive political website BlueOregon: Sunday spadeas cost $24,950, while weekday spadeas are $19,750. Anderson says that the No campaign paid the standard rate.

Could that kind of revenue save some staffers from the intevitable layoff that Sandy Rowe warned about in a November memo, before she herself retired as editor in order to save the paper money? When the first front-page spadea ran in August, current editor Peter Bhatia wrote that "ads like these pay for the news staff." Anderson would only add that The Oregonian gets most of its revenue from advertising, and that "we are adjusting our expenses to match up with our revenue."

Tim Gleason, dean of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism, says that, while he has "absolutely no doubt" that there is no connection between The Oregonian's editorial position and the paper's decision to accept the spadea, he believes that the ad is a "symbol of the degree to which financial pressures are influencing news decision-making." He warns that "the credibility of any news organization is challenged when the line between advertising and editorial content is blurred," something he says he sees "in all mediums." He says that Sunday's spadea is "a very visible symbol of that trend."

While Anderson agrees that blurring the line between advertising and editorial content would challenge a paper's credibility, he does not agree that the No campaign's spadeas have done so. "Not when it's clearly marked as a paid ad." He says that the paper's willingness to accept spadeas from the Yes campaign is more evidence that that line is distinct. Anderson, who taught journalism ethics at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School in the fall of 2008, adds, "I think I'm informed."

The Oregonian will revisit whether to accept spadeas in future political campaigns. Anderson adds, "It would have been much easier if the first ad had been from the supporters."

UPDATE (1/22, 10:21 am): A pronoun has been changed to Van Dongen's name to clarify that it was he who was away when the decision to accept political spadeas was made.

This weekend, we'll have an interview with Pete Schulberg, former KGW anchor, KPAM host and media columnist for The Oregonian and the Portland Tribune. In the meantime:

• Just Out, Portland's LGBT newspaper, has a profile of KOIN meteorologist Tim Joyce. "Following September’s news that KATU 2-TV reporter Jeff Jaeger’s contract would not be renewed, Joyce finds himself as the most high-profile—if not the only—openly gay television personality in Portland," the story says.
• Oldies station KVAN (92.1) in Pilot Rock is being sold to David and Clare Capps by Charles R. Nelson for $625,000. The station mainly serves the Tri-cities and Walla Walla areas of Washington.
• And we keep getting emails about this NSFW ad from Voodoo Doughnuts, which Portland's [?] Media declined to run. The feminist magazine said the hirsute image "objectified a woman’s body in order to sell their clothing." The doughnut company has a clothing line.

It may have seemed an unlikely partnership, but Street Roots, the Portland newspaper addressing homelessness and sold by the homeless, teamed up with the Portland Business Alliance in June of this year. The arrangement exchanged ad space for PBA membership and the ability to attend PBA meetings.

Street Roots has long criticized the PBA for its support of Portland's sit-lie ordinance, which was ruled unconstitutional earlier this year, and for its downtown security force, Portland Patrol, Inc.

But today, Street Roots director Israel Bayer writes that the PBA is pulling its in-kind ads from the paper in response to an editorial that said that police and the business community had engaged in a PR campaign to make the city seem out of control with the loss of sit-lie.

The PBA tells Willamette Week that they felt accused of manufacturing a problem and will suspend its advertising for at least a few weeks. The paper is published every two weeks.

Street Roots remains a PBA member.

UPDATE (9/10, 7:37pm): The Portland Mercury analyzes the issue, and questions whether coverage is being influenced.

UPDATE (9/10, 10:39pm): Street Roots maintains in an email with the PBA that its editorial content will not be influenced by third parties.

• Profits at Tribune Co., parent of Portland's "NW32" KRCW, have fallen 23 percent in the company's first five months of bankruptcy protection.
• The new 1859 Magazine hits newsstands "early next week."
• SOPTV.org officially unveiled its redesign last night. See our before and after.
• The Statesman Journal ran its first full-color op-ed today, with a column and cartoon on Sarah Palin, plus a guest editorial.
• KGW Senior Producer and consummate geek Aaron Weiss turns "2^5" today.
• And of course, practically everyone is blowing out their schedules for the Michael Jackson memorial today.

Beyond our region:

• Television news salaries are down 4.4 percent, while radio salaries fell 1.8 percent, according to RTNDA. It's even worse if you factor in inflation.
• Macy's stores have cut print advertising by 50 percent since 2005, according to an industry blog. It was feared when Macy's bought and converted Meier & Frank and other May Company stores that local ad buys would dry up in favor of national campaigns.
• McClatchy is given a nearly 50 percent chance of default.
• The Washington Post's Dan Froomkin is now The Huffington Post's Dan Froomkin.
• ABC shows are starting to appear on Hulu, beginning with Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.
• And finally, Casey Casem has hung up his headphones.

Readers, we could use some help. Check out our sharing button below and tell us in the comments if you see a real menu, or just a bunch of plain text with no background.

We lied, Press Clippings took much longer than an hour to produce. We blame our terrible, awful, slow computer.

• KMHD host Al Evans tells OMC it will be "a couple of weeks at least" before the station moves into its new studio at OPB.
• Portland Sucks calls out Matt Davis for his BlogTown post, "Rape Allegations: Another Side Effect of Big Soccer?" The Mercury's Kiala Kazebee comes to Matt's defense in the comments. Also up for Portland Sucks' wrath is KGW's Breedlove exclusive. As always, there's strong language.
• OMC reader skihoodoo sends in a photo of KGW's other Skycam in Newport at the Embarcadero resort, a followup to a story in our last Press Clippings. Skihoodoo has been doing a lot to contribute to OMC, thank you!
• A variation on an idea from @newsjunkie60 via @PortORTraffic: When an event like Wimbledon disrupts the TV schedule, why not put regular programming on a digital subchannel?
• Local blog I'm in your water offers a Portland media roundup, including former Willamette Week columnist Byron Beck calling Cort of KUFO's Cort and Fatboy "Lars Larson."
• We almost missed this: The Alliance for Community Media is holding its annual conference in Portland, discussing ways to "protect community media at the national and local levels." The event runs July 15 through 18 at the Oregon Convention Center and Doubletree Hotel.

Beyond our region:

• The climbdown is complete: Washington Post editor Katherine Weymouth has apologized over the paper's pay-for-access scandal.
• NYU's Jay Rosen notes that CNN's Reliable Sources relegated that controversy to a commentary in the final moments of the show. Howard Kurtz' status as a media critic while under the employ of two major media organizations has long been a source of its own media criticism.
• And heavy criticism doesn't always lead to apologies: Columnist Connie Schultz is more resolute than ever that her idea to ban linking and summaries of news stories is a good idea. Should Press Clippings be worried?
• If you somehow missed it over the weekend, Sarah Palin has threatened to sue bloggers and traditional media over their handling of her sudden resignation.
• Newsroom veterans may be more likely to get promotions to general manager lately.
• There's a $3 billion gap between declining TV station revenue and online ad income.
• Layoffs of copy editors mean more complaints about typos at The Washington Post.
• The Saturday Evening Post is returning to its roots, differentiating itself on the newsstand by offering more creative writing and fiction.
• The Library of Congress now offers a searchable database of news stories from 1880 to 1922.
• Web video is evolving beyond the two-minute clip.
• Instead of non-profits, The News & Observer has an idea to operate newspapers as low-profits. Insert joke here.
• Most poll respondents said they wouldn't miss their daily newspaper if it went away. I believe there was a poll to the contrary that we posted recently. Once we add tags to our old stories, that sort of thing should be easier to find.

And another big thank you to our new contributor over the weekend! Donations are all that are making this site possible. As you may have seen in our last post, we're working on ways to increase traffic so we can get some ad revenue coming in. But even then, it's unlikely to be enough to keep us afloat. The slow holiday weekend did some serious damage to our average daily visitor count. If you'd like to help us out with any amount, there's a big shiny button on the left.

This is an open thread, what's on your mind?

The news is light in the media world this holiday weekend:

• KGW is adding a bayfront live cam in Newport. (Thanks, skihoodoo.)
• With Sarah Palin resigning, KATU's Anita Kissee wonders what she'll be for Halloween now. (Photo)
• KGW's Stephanie Stricklen gets letters. From prison.
• Fisher stations weren't the only ones with technical difficulties lately. KGW's "live from the Waterfront Blues Festival" became "live from the KGW rooftop" Thursday.
• KPTV's Kevin Coari caused an incident on the set Thursday.
• And we've got a lot of new media job listings posted to the right.

Beyond our region:

• Congressional Quarterly got slapped with a lawsuit for alleged corporate espionage and information theft.
• Lewis Grossberger provides an amusing scorecard for the reporters who posted videos to the YouTube Reporter's Center. One surprise: Bob Woodward gets an F.
• Online ad revenue can be improved by going bigger. A lot bigger.
• And a profile of West Seattle Blog, the two-person online news outlet read by up to 20 percent of the community it covers.

And another big thank you to our donor from yesterday morning! You're really making this website possible. We love our contributors! If you want to help keep us in operation, there's a big shiny button on the left.

The light posting this weekend reflects light media happenings. We're working on adding features to the site while we've got the chance.