Reading, writing and propaganda

The ONDCP's controversial ad-credit program arose as part of a five-year, nearly $1 billion, federally financed anti-drug media campaign approved by Congress in 1997, with the stipulation that ONDCP could only buy advertising if the media company it was buying from would agree to sell additional ad time or space at half-price. The two-for-one deal boosted the total value of the campaign to nearly $2 billion.

But rather than forcing media companies to meet this requirement entirely with a second ad for no further compensation -- a financially onerous arrangement, especially during boom times when ad buys are costly -- the White House allowed them to use content it approved for up to 49 percent of the value of time or space owed the government from the original two-for-one deal. The ONDCP refers to such deals as "pro bono" matches, but the phrase is inaccurate: If the content meets ONDCP's strict anti-drug-message criteria, the media company that submitted it saves money that can total millions of dollars. (Magazines and newspapers can either sell the ad space to another client or save money by not running the ad; television invariably earns more by selling to other clients.)

As recently disclosed in Salon, on May 31 the ONDCP quietly terminated the most controversial portion of its program, in which it approved the anti-drug messages in TV sitcoms and dramas for advertising credit. But the other ad credit arrangements continue.

The ONDCP deals with Channel One and Teen Newsweek -- and even more egregiously, the abortive New York Times one -- would seem to violate ONDCP's stated policy that news and editorial content would not be eligible for match consideration. According to a July 2000 ONDCP "Statement of Pro Bono Match Program and Guidelines," "Feature stories or public materials in print" are eligible, but "anything involving news or editorials or [that] could be perceived as news or editorials (as determined by the Strategic Message Specialist)" is not.

The distinction between "news" and "features" is a blurry one. But the Channel One segments submitted to the ONDCP would seem to qualify as news: Channel One characterizes itself as a news organization, and indeed is the only "news" encountered by many of its claimed 8 million viewers in 12,000 schools in grades six to 12 across the nation. (These numbers are disputed by some Channel One critics.) Teen Newsweek's articles also arguably could be defined as news stories.

As for the one known article erroneously submitted by the New York Times, it was clearly a news article. Written by Joan Swirsky and titled "Hewlett Schools Head Sees Drug 'Epidemic,'" it appeared in the Times' Long Island section on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2000. Its opening read: "Drug and alcohol abuse 'by our own children' has reached an 'almost epidemic state,' Dr. Charles W. Fowler, the superintendent of Hewlett-Woodmere public schools, said in a letter to parents announcing a town meeting to discuss what could be done about the problem."

The article then described a meeting packed with concerned parents listening to several experts. One expert who attended the meeting is quoted as saying, "Baby-boomer parents are confused about their own values about drugs. Many of them think that it's a phase that their children will outgrow, but many kids don't." He added, "There is an increase in the use and range of drugs."

The Times writer noted, "Concrete solutions like setting limits and age-appropriate boundaries, seeking professional advice and chaperoning parties were suggested at the meeting."

Pechmann, who approved the Times article for credit, explained that to qualify for financial credits, media content must incorporate one or more ONDCP-promulgated "message platforms": the message to parents that your children are at risk; the perception of the harm drugs inflict; and parenting skills. The Times article qualified, she said, because "it talked about them all."

The fact that the Times article was clearly a news article rather than a feature did not affect Pechmann's decision to approve it -- nor, apparently, did it trouble her superiors, who apparently rejected it only because they were aware of the Times' policy against this type of editorial submission.

A document called "Evaluation of TV Episodes for Match Credit," dated March 1, 2001, sheds fascinating light on the process by which the government evaluates whether stories qualify for ad credits. The document was co-written by Pechmann, who is an associate professor of marketing at the University of California at Irvine, and Ph.D. candidate Maria Kniazeva, also of UC-Irvine.

Next Page: Why Channel One's submissions were rejected (and how they learned their lesson)

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