The New York Times's history with advocacy ads

With news that the Moveon ad against General Petraeus got a deep discount from the New York Times prompted the Prowler to investigate the paper's history with conservative advocacy ads.

The New York Times in the past has rejected "advocacy" ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as well as from the National Right to Life Committee, despite the fact that both would have qualified for the same "special advocacy, stand by" rates that the radical, left-wing organization MoveOn.org was given for its smear ad of Gen. David Petraeus.

MoveOn, which is largely financed by billionaire George Soros, as well as other major financial donors to the Democratic National Committee, was given a $100,000 discount for the ad which called the U.S. commander of armed forces in Iraq a traitor. According to a MoveOn organizer in Washington, D.C., the organization has raised more than twice that amount since the full-page ad appeared in the Times earlier this week. "It was a great fundraising opportunity for us." The source added that the group was looking to perhaps turn the ad into a poster that they could further fundraise off of.

The Times claimed that MoveOn was given no special treatment, but several organizations that sought to place ads in a similar manner in past years have been turned away or were told that the ads were bumped for higher paying ads.

According to a former New York Times ad sales staffer, a coalition of pro-life groups attempted to take out a full-page ad in the Times during the Terri Schiavo debate in Congress, but were turned away. "I think that such a group would have qualified for our advocacy discount, but perhaps the policies changed in the past couple of years," says the ad rep.

Similarly, during the 2004 election season, a representative from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth sought to place a full-page ad in the paper, but was turned away.

The MoveOn staffer said that the organization was made aware of the discount from a New York Times reporter based in New York.

I guess all this publicity of the New York Times led them to accept Rudy Giuliani's ad answering the Moveon.org ad since his ad is running today. The Times asserts that it was no special deal for Moveon, but simply a discounted rate for advocacy ads.

Catherine J. Mathis, a spokeswoman for The New York Times Company, said the advertising department does not base its rates on political content. She also said the department does not disclose the rates it charges for individual advertisements. But she did say that “similar types of ads are priced in the same way.” She said the department charges advocacy groups $64,575 for full-page, black-and-white advertisements that run on a “standby” basis, meaning an advertiser can request a specific day and placement but is not guaranteed them.

And, reportedly, Giuliani's ad is indeed running today.

Perhaps, with all the problems that the Times is having making a profit and attracting advertising they have no problem finding space for a full page ad on short notice. Which advocacy group is going to pay the full rate now that it's been widely publicized how easy it is to get the discounted rate.

UPDATE: The Politico has the Giuliani ad which explicitly ties Hillary Clinton to the Moveon.org attack on General Petraeus.