UPDATED:Write your newspaper about allowing full page propaganda

by: Steviey99

Thu Aug 27, 2009 at 13:17:45 PM EDT

In today's News Herald we saw a full page ad from some group calling itself the "U.S. Citizens Association". It's an outrageous ad made to look like an article.

 Nolu Chan wrote about the misleading ad and the tactics used by this group.

There is an absurd anonymous PAID ADVERTISEMENT by a lobbying group with no sources for their putrid propaganda and no footnotes. It is by a group going under the new name U. S. Citizens Association. This originally appeared by The Better Government Association who were forced to rebrand by court order. The putrid ADVERTISEMENT now appears with author listed as U. S. Citizens Association as a PDF.

Here is the FULL content of their site used under their former name, the Better Government Association, only changed with the past few days.

http://www.bettergovernmentassociation.com/

The Owners of this website are in the process of changing their name to The U.S. Citizens Association. If you are looking for the Chicago-based Better Government Association, the non-partisan government watchdog organization that has been fighting corruption i`n government since 1923, please visit www.bettergov.org.

To Contact the U.S. Citizens Association, please visit www.uscitizensassociation.com

This lowlife scumbucket lobbying organization was sued by the REAL, respectable Better Government Association (Case #1:09-cv-4686 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division) and was subjected to a court ordered permanent injunction. The court ordered that the above text must be placed on the old website and transfer the web address to the REAL BGA within 60 days. 

So this group already had been found out to be misleading the public through tactics that were deemed illegal. They are also believed to be funded by the insurance industry.

The address given in the Memphis Commercial Appeal for US Citizen Association is 1655 W. Market St. Suite 200, Akron Oh. Googling the address I found I found:

 Cummings Insurance

1655 W Market St Ste K

Akron, OH 44313
(330) 867-0900

This is of course a different suite, but being someone who finds US Citizen Associations anti-Democrate ad campaign aborant, I would like to know if there is a relationship.

So how can media outlets that want to have credibility with their readers allow such a misleading ad in thier newspapers? Money.

What can we do about this? First, contact your local media outlet that has allowed these ads to run. Tell them you are going to cancel your subscription unles you receive a satisfactory response. Here is what I wrote the News Herald.

Dear Mr. Karl Ziomek,

 

I recently renewed my subscription for the News Herald for another year. My family and I have been subscribers for many years. We were all offended by the decision by you and others in the advertisement department to allow "U.S. Citizens Association" to run full page ads that are not only misleading, but have outright lies claiming to be facts.

 

The U.S. Citizens Association is a lobbying group that is funded by some of the insurance companies. Is it the policy of your media outlet to allow paid advertising to anyone that gives you money? Would you allow neo-Nazis to take out full page ads proclaiming the Holocaust never happened and other lies directed at Jewish Peoples? Where do you draw the line?

 

There are no facts to back up the claims made by the "U.S. Citizens Association", no footnotes and no references. The group recently had to change their name from "Better Government Association, Inc" to "U.S. Citizens Association" because of a Federal law suit filed by the real "Better Government Association".

 

Would the News Herald allow any group to run ads on their news papers and mislead their readers, as long as that group bought the space? What are the rules that your company claims to have regarding this issue?

 

I realize times are tough for the newspaper industry, and this is why I am going to write this. I expect a response, and if the response does not satisfy me I am going to cancel my subscription. There are groups that run blogs that are going to start sponsoring a movement to get Michigan Democrats to cancel their subscriptions, and that will move on to other liberal blogs and will include any other media outlets owned by Heritage, or any other media outlet that does not explain to it's readers that the ad is an ad, and from the insurance industry with no facts to back up their claims.

 

It's a disservice to all of your readers that you would allow such a misleading ad to run full page in your paper, and we believe that you should at the very least inform your readers that this group was forced by Federal courts to change their name because of misleading tactics, and is funded by insurance companies.

 

I look forward you your response,

 

XXXXX XXXXXXX(ME)

 

Times are tough in the newspaper industry and especially here in the state of Michigan.

I appreciate that you are aware and educated on the state of our current business environment.

Quite frankly, I was surprised to see this advertisement in yesterday’s edition of the News-Herald and would not have accepted it without some revisions had I known that it was to run.

We have a national rep firm that sells advertising into our news products, which is where this ad originated. We do have guidelines for such advertisements which were not followed. All such advertisements are to be clearly marked as “Advertisements” so that there is no confusion by our readers that we endorse such advertising messages.

I have made contact with our national firm to inform them that no further advertisement of this nature will be accepted without meeting our prearranged guidelines for acceptance.

I appreciate you and your family as longstanding customers of Heritage Newspapers and hope that we can remain a vital part of local information for you in the future.