Placement

I am sure you have noticed it’s election season (haven’t we all?). I have definitely noticed; I work at a horribly run community newspaper. In this business we have to be careful; we have to follow the rules. We cannot talk to anyone about candidates’ rates, or campaigns. We cannot offer different rates to different candidates, or campaigns, etc. etc. In a nutshell, we cannot discriminate. But, as I found out last week, apparently we can give better placement to initiatives we would like to see win ("we" being my boss).

I placed an ad opposing an initiative for a new school tax. They paid full price and they pre-paid, that’s all I could ask. I also placed an ad in support of the same school tax. In true community newspapers sleazy-ness, the GM told me to give the support ad a better price and better placement. That seems indiscriminate and fair, don’t you think?