THE OMBUDSMAN
Is this space for sale?THE ADVERTISEMENT on Thursday's op-ed page was, in itself, hardly objectionable. Who can argue with a call to end child homelessness?
But it was still the first paid ad on a page that had long been ad-free. It marked a change in policy -- and, some would say, character -- for the Globe's opinion page. "A resounding chorus of boos and catcalls to The Boston Globe for selling its editorial soul to the highest bidder . . . " wrote Peter Owens, a journalism professor at UMass-Dartmouth, one of several readers to protest. It means, he says, less space for the "many extraordinary voices who appear solely on their merits. It turns the Globe op-ed page into a platform for lobbyists whose ideas are not good enough for inclusion but whose cash is." "It is one more chance for moneyed interests to dominate public discussions of public issues," echoed Michael Biales of Acton, who, like Owens, was reacting to the May 18 editor's note announcing the new policy. "It's a sad day," wrote another. The Globe has "always managed to more or less keep your integrity as a news source" wrote David Dunne, a longtime reader from Cambridge. "Please don't throw it away for a few cheap dollars." Add another op-ed page, some urged, to offset space lost to ads. No such expansion is on the horizon. Here's what is: The Globe will run op-ed page ads on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, when available. Each ad will be a quarter-page in size, black and white only, one per page. Advertisers will likely be a mix of foundations, non-profits, major corporations, and unions. Not allowed: ads promoting a political candidate, making personal attacks, commenting on private disputes, or promoting commercial products or services. Rather, these must be "advocacy ads" devoted to "a point of view on a topic or issue in the public domain," according to the advertising department's guidelines. Ads that are "gratuitously offensive on racial, religious, or ethnic grounds" will be rejected, and while there will be no fact-checking, the paper does "expect opinion advertisers to avoid inaccurate or misleading" assertions. Each ad will be reviewed by two top advertising staffers. Editorial page staffers will not be involved. In fact, editorial page staffers will not even know an ad's content ahead of time; they will simply be told to leave ad room on the page. That is to reinforce the vow -- made by Editorial Page editor Renee Loth in her editor's note -- that ads will never influence the content of the opinion pages. Why introduce ads to the op-ed page now? To help pay for the Globe's commitment to covering everything from the Red Sox to the White House to Iraq, says Publisher Richard Gilman. Producing and delivering a newspaper is an increasingly expensive venture that requires new initiatives, he says. "If appropriate ads on the op-ed page can help us to maintain the quality and breadth of our journalistic mission, I think that is a reasonable thing to do," he said. The op-ed page, noted Gilman, "was never sacrosanct in the sense that the editorial page is and will always be." The advertising department declines to say just how much each op-ed ad will bring in, but it's a "significant advertising revenue opportunity," said Michael Flanagan, director of advertising strategy and development. And op-ed availability brings in a kind of business that the Globe would not typically get, he said.
Architects of the new venture note that the Globe is in good company. The New York Times runs op-ed page ads, as do The Wall Street Journal and LA Times. But other big papers, such as The The closest the Globe has come, at least in the recent past, to opinion page advertising was in the 1970s and 1980s. Mobil ads appeared on an extra once-a-week letters to the editor page, and, later, on a page called "Second Look," produced by the newsroom and sandwiched between the front section and the editorial page. (The ads stopped sometime after a controversial piece in 1988 on Armenian genocide. H.D.S. Greenway, a former Globe editor who oversaw the page, says it was implied, but never stated, that Mobil pulled its ads because of the controversy.) What is the ombudsman's view on all this? I'd prefer to keep the op-ed page ad-free. Most journalists (and readers) probably would. The Globe needs to have more, not less, space available for outside writers and strong opinions. Maybe, in this era of increased costs and competition, having ads on the op-ed page has become inevitable -- but it should be done only after all other cost-cutting and revenue-tapping have been exhausted. That may be the case here at the Globe; I don't know the financial side well enough to say. But I do know that the loss of op-ed space to ads will cost readers something.
The ombudsman represents the readers. Her opinions and conclusions are her own. Phone 617-929-3020 or, to leave a message, 929-3022. Our e-mail address is ombud@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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