Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.ads From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: ads Wed, May 6 1992 Date: Wed, 6 May 92 05:32:34 EDT Message-ID: 05-06 0000 DECISIONLINE: Advertising USA TODAY Update May 6, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PAPERS MAY BE BENDING STANDARDS: Catholic University law professor Ronald Collins says the recession has led more newspapers to bend to pressure from advertisers. "The recession has made an already serious situation worse," says Collins, who is also co-founder of The Center for the Study of Commercialism, a non-profit group. He participated in a roundtable on the clash of journalism and marketing Tuesday. (For more, see special Newspaper package below.) `COSBY' GOES OUT ON TOP: More than 44 million viewers tuned in to say goodbye to NBC's "The Cosby Show," the No. 1 rated show of the week. Despite that, CBS won the week on the strength of its regularly scheduled shows in the Top 10: "60 Minutes" (No. 4), "Designing Women" (No. 9) and "Murphy Brown" (No. 5), which launched a four-week story line centered around the birth of Murphy's baby. `PRIMETIME' MAKES SOLID SHOWING: ABC's "PrimeTime Live" outperformed an original episode of NBC's "L.A. Law" Thursday night and scored the second-highest rating (No. 13) in its history. A special edition of ABC's "20:20," "The New Rules of Love," ranked No. 15. ABC's "World News Tonight" with Peter Jennings won the nightly news race, followed by "CBS Evening News" and NBC's "Nightly News." WORTH RAISES RATE BASE: The February:March premier issue of the personal finance magazine Worth did well enough on newsstands that Capital Publishing Co. raised the magazines rate base. It went from 200,000 to 250,000. The rate base is the circulation guaranteed to advertisers. L.A. TIMES MAG'S AD PAGES GROW: Since the Los Angeles Times Magazine redesigned and increased its size a year ago, advertising has grown. The L.A. Times' Sunday magazine says ad pages rose 63%, to 1,080, the 12 months since the April 7, 1991 premier of the new look. The magazine increased from 8 1:4 inches by 10 3:4 inches to 10 inches by 12 1:2 inches. FREE ADS OFFERED IN L.A.: Not waiting for scenes of riots to become cast in concrete, nine major L.A. business development groups have launched a promotional counterattack to recent area unrest. The public service ad advises not to "believe everything you see on T.V." Also, the Los Angeles Business Journal (circulation 1500,000) is offering free ad space to businesses damaged by last week's riots. CORMAN CASHING IN ON RIOTS: Filmmaker Roger Corman said Tuesday he's negotiating with two networks for a movie-of-the-week based on the Los Angeles riots. Corman's company had four camera crews out last week shooting live footage during the riots. SAWYER TO HOST NEWSMAGAZINE: ABC News said Tuesday "Nightline" correspondent Forrest Sawyer will anchor the network's new newsmagazine that takes on CBS' "60 Minutes" this summer. There has been no decision on a co-anchor, or a name for the show and the format is up in the air. "60 Minutes" is the most successful show in television history. IBM TO TRY MAIL-ORDER CAMPAIGN: IBM is running full-page ads in major newpapers across the nation Wednesday for its new mail-order personal computer business. The move comes as IBM continues to lose business to smaller PC makers. Mail-order competitors such as Gateway 2000 and Dell Computer have steadily stolen business from Big Blue. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON NEWSPAPERS: PUBLISHERS DENY CLAIM: Publishers say they are not giving in to pressure from advertisers because of a slump in advertising revenue. Publishers say there has always been pressure. Advertisers - particularly car dealers, real estate agencies, restaurants, supermarkets and department stores - have always been willing to yank their ads to punish newspapers for critical reporting about their businesses. DOUBLE STANDARD IS USED: Newspapers that would never compromise their coverage of social issues or government have another standard for consumer stories, Catholic University law professor Ronald Collins says. "The concern for the ad dollar is so strong that the question is no longer, `Will we censor ourselves to keep an advertiser happy?"' he says "Now, it's `How do we write advertiser-friendly copy?"' REAL ESTATE COVERAGE IS SOFT: In a 1991 Washington Journalism Review article, almost half the 42 real-estate editors surveyed said publishers and senior editors had prohibited critical coverage of the real estate industry for fear of losing ad revenue. A University of Minnesota survey of 250 newspapers shows that almost 90% of newspapers say they have been pressured by advertisers, Collins says. PUBLISHER SETS THE TONE: Louis A. "Chip" Weil III, publisher and CEO of The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette says he hasn't seen any added evidence of advertiser pressure influencing news coverage because of a recent ad slump. "It comes down to the boss - the publisher - setting the pace of the gang and letting people know that the news side is off limits," he says. (End of package.) Advertising Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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