Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to Wrap Monday's Papers in "Vote for Freedom...Defeat Obama" Bags

I know times are tough for the print media, but this is just sad and pathetic. Tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- a newspaper which has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president -- will be delivered in a bag which has printed on it:

"Vote for Freedom...Defeat Obama"
Yes, they will literally wrap themselves in deceptive -- as if voting for Obama was voting against freedom and, of course, playing into the whole "communist/socialist" meme -- anti Obama speech.

It's a paid advertisement sponsored by the National Rifle Association.

The Post-Gazette will undoubtedly try to explain to us poor, dumb schlubs that there's a difference between editorial and advertising. I'm sure that's the stance they took when they distributed the extreme anti Muslim "Obsession" DVD earlier this month.

But the truth is that the Post-Gazette -- like any other newspaper -- can, and I'm certain, does reject advertisements.

At least two newspapers in Virginia -- The Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Virginian Pilot -- rejected this very same "Defeat Obama" bag.

What does The Virginian Pilot say about newspapers accepting ads like this? They say this about their decision to reject the ad:

The risk for a newspaper that runs the plastic bag ad, according to media ethicist Kelly McBride, is that it may give readers a reason to question its objectivity.

"If your wrap on Election Day is portraying one particular point of view, that's going to be pretty damaging to your credibility," said McBride, ethics group leader for the Poynter Institute, a school for professional journalists in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I think it would be hard for voters, in that moment, to discern whether this is the paper's point of view or someone else's," she added. "You don't want to do something on Election Day that essentially alienates your readers."

Similar considerations factored into The Pilot's decision to reject the ad, said company business development manager Alan Levenstein.

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, Levenstein said.

"We want to make sure that we provide equity for all sides, make sure that there is a level playing field," he said. "We want to make sure that we don't look, as a newspaper, that we're endorsing one viewpoint or another."

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.

Bravo to The Pilot.

If you have a problem with the Post-Gazette's decision I would highly suggest that you take IMMEDIATE ACTION (you can speak to a live person NOW).

Call 412-263-1100
You can ask to leave a message on their Advertising Comment line.

More importantly, since it would seem that $$$ is all they're thinking about, you can choose to call that same number and suspend or cancel your subscription.

They have the right to take whatever filthy lucre they want and wrap themselves in anti Obama muck and you have the right to respond to their oh-so-wrongly calculated decision.

UPDATE: Other suggestions I've seen in comments, on list servs and at Daily Kos:

Call these folks to complain:

"David Shribman, executive editor, 412-263-1890

You all might want to do the same and if the voice mail is full, work your way down to these:
Susan Smith, managing editor, 412-263-1858
Mary Leonard, deputy managing editor, 412-263-0443 "

Use the ad bag for your scooped dog poop/used cat litter
.