With an ad in Parade magazine on Sunday, the American Heart Association will begin its first-ever paid advertising campaign, a $36 million, three-year effort to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke. The group hopes that writing checks will help deliver its message more effectively compared with donated advertising, which often translates into "far from prime time."

Continue ReadingNon-Profit Begins Paid Marketing
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In December, Gov. Jeb Bush dedicated Lawtey Correctional Institute as the state's first "faith-based," government-run prison in the country, Jeffrey C. Billman reports for Orlando Weekly. "I can't think of a better place to reflect on the love of our Lord Jesus than to be here at Lawtey Correctional," said the Catholic governor. On a visit to the medium-security prison, Billman attends a revival, observes the temporary segregation of Muslim inmates and interviews some nervous, unhappy inmates.

Continue ReadingFlorida Prison Tries to Turn Inmates into Better Souls

With gains across all major media, U.S. ad spending grew 5.1% in 2003 versus 2002, according to a report released Thursday by Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Local magazines had by far the strongest growth, followed by local newspapers and national magazines. Jeff King, managing director of the Nielsen Media Research unit, said the ad climate grew "steadily each quarter throughout 2003." He said that while the last year's growth rate may be difficult to sustain, Nielsen expects healthy ad revenue to continue this year on the strength of political advertising and Summer Olympics ads. First-quarter 2003 started with a slight 1.5% gain. That more than doubled in the second quarter to 3.6% and had jumped to 7.4% by the fourth quarter.

Continue ReadingReport: Ad Spending Jumps
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U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski worked in the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans during the year leading up to the war. The same week the U.S. invaded Iraq, she retired so she could speak openly about what she says she observed: "a neoconservative coup, a hijacking of the Pentagon." Kwiatkowski tells L.A. Weekly's Marc Cooper the search for weapons of mass destruction was a façade—"they didn't expect to find anything"—and offers three motives for the war that never became part of the Republican Administration's spin.

Continue ReadingRetired Regional Analyst Discloses Motives for War in Iraq

The deal reminds Nashville Scene writer Matt Pulle of the arrangement Village Voice Media and New Times Media made in October 2002 to each close a paper that competed in a market dominated by the other. That plan threw the Justice Department into a snit. In a surprise move Monday, Gannett traded its only sizable Georgia paper, The Times in Gainesville, to Morris Multimedia in exchange for two small papers in Tennessee. Gannett also acquired two weeklies in Tennessee's Rutherford County. "While the swap of several small newspapers is hardly Comcast buying Disney, it marks the crowning achievement in Gannett's stranglehold of the Middle Tennessee area," Pulle writes.

Continue ReadingGannett Swaps Papers with Georgia Media Chain

Echo Boomers like to be in control, don't trust advertising in any media, and are hip to hype, according to new findings by market research firm Yankelovich. The children of the Baby Boom generation, ages 12 to 24, present a unique opportunity for marketers and media agencies if they strive to understand the development of their mindset.

Continue ReadingEcho Boomers Distrust Advertising
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Posing as a heterosexual, Weekly Dig writer Lissa E. Harris infiltrated the crowd opposing acceptance of same-sex marriage outside the State House in Boston last week. A rosary recitation faltered when a man led a chant opposing homophobia. Anti-gay-marriage activists carried signs saying “Adam + Steve = 0 People. Adam + Eve = 6 Billion People.” Inside the State House, Harris writes, she "got confused by the labyrinthine corridors on the first floor and followed a gaggle of protestors from both sides who found momentary common ground as they searched for the stairs."

Continue ReadingGay-Marriage Supporters Drown Out Prayers against Their Cause