Pressure the Post (Threatened Boycott of WashPo Advertiser)

Virginia Virtucon ^ | 12/07/2006 | Virginia Virtucon

[ReagansRaiders]

In the 2006 elections, we witnessed such incredible bias from the Washington Post that even their very own ombudsman finally had to state that their coverage of Republican candidates, Senator George Allen in particular, was excessive and biased.

Allen supporters think he can't catch a break; I sympathize. The macaca coverage went on too long, and a profile of Allen was relentlessly negative without balancing coverage of what made him a popular governor and senator.

So, how do you bring pressure on the Post to change? Letters to the editor won't make a difference. Canceling your subscription won't make a dent even if it does make you feel better. Feeling better isn't the objective here, though, change is. In order to effect change, the Post must feel the pain. How do we do that? Cut off their lifeblood -- advertising dollars.

In an era where newspaper ad revenue is sinking rapidly and even the NY Times is the target of a hostile takeover as its stock plummets, a pullout of the Post's single largest daily advertiser would put some real hurt to them. How do we make that happen? You let the advertiser know that unless they pull their ads from the daily pages of the Post until the paper changes its ways, you will boycott their stores. This is a tried and true practice with TV programs and there is no reason why it can't be applied to the newspaper industry as well where the financial impact would be magnified even more.

Fortunately for us, the Post's largest advertiser in its daily pages is Macy's and there was just a recent successful boycott of Macy's that provides us with a template. When that boycott first was instituted, it was dismissed by Macy's until it caught fire among grassroots organizers. Once it did, Macy's took notice and changed their ways. I'm sure the last thing that Macy's wants is another boycott, especially one they can avoid simply by pulling its ads from the daily pages of the Post.

Contact Macy's here and tell them to stop advertising in the daily pages of the Washington Post until the Post is able to be objective and neutral in its news reports. (They can drive off the left side of the road into a ditch in their editorials so long as they don't pollute news coverage with editorial bias.) Address your correspondence to James A. Sluzewski, Vice President for Corporate Communications & External Affairs.

Following is a sample letter you can use for contacting Macy's. You can either mail it to the address provided or cut and paste the letter into Macy's online contact form. You will find their form by clicking here.

Mr. James A. Sluzewski

Vice President for Corporate Communications & External Affairs

Federated Corporate

7 West Seventh Street

Cincinnati, OH 45202

Dear Mr. Sluzewski:

Over the past few months since the Macy's name has graced most Federated department stores, I have noticed that Macy's has become the single largest advertiser in the daily pages of the Washington Post. Recently, Macy's ads have accounted for as many as ten pages in the first section of the Washington Post in a single day!

Unfortunately, what was once a great newspaper dedicated to reporting the news has been corrupted by political bias so intense that even their own ombudsman described their news coverage (not editorial content) of candidates that they oppose as "relentlessly negative without balancing coverage." (Nov. 3, 2006 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301462.html )

I am writing you to ask that you pull all Macy's advertising from the daily pages of the Washington Post (as opposed to your Sunday sales flyers) until such time as they present neutral, balanced political coverage in their news stories. Should Macy's continue to advertise in the daily pages of the Washington Post without the Post returning to basic concepts of fairness and neutrality in its news coverage, I will have no choice but to boycott Macy's and any other Federated department stores, join in organizing a regional boycott and encourage everyone I know to do the same.

Advertising dollars, not subscription payments, are what allow the Washington Post and other newspapers to continue to operate. I cannot in good conscience support a company that helps to fund such extreme bias that even the newspaper's very own watchperson finds fault with it. Please suspend all Federated advertising from the daily pages of the Washington Post so that I may continue to shop your fine stores as I have done for years.

Sincerely,

[Your Signature]

[webstersII]

You are making a great point.

The reason that Donahue was taken off the air is primarily because of the letter-writing campaign of one (yes, ONE) lone dentist in Texas. He bought copies of the show on videotape and wrote up transcripts of some of the most outrageous parts of the shows and sent them to company presidents. In effect, he asked, "Is this the type of show that you want to spend your advertising dollars on?"

The companies didn't want to be associated with Donahue and some of his wacked-out ideas (just like alot of companies refuse to advertise on Jerry Springer) so they started using their dollars elsewhere.

Even as liberal as alot of CEOs and presidents are, apparently there is still enough latent capitalism within the heads of major corporations that they will always respond to the bottom line.

[MinuteGal]

May I suggest each of us composes our own (brief) message to Macy's? Form letters just don't cut it with boycott targets.

A Macy's just opened where I live in Florida. Macy's also took over the Marshall Fields stores in the Chicago area. So you don't have to be a New York City Macy's customer. In fact, it would be even more effective and accurate to mention your local store as your boycott target.

Consider this a major freep. This is what we're here for. Typing and moaning does NOT make a freep.

Concerted effort here can have results and may result in pricking some of Macy's hot air balloons.

Leni

[staytrue]

letters are good, maybe freeping them in person this christmas season might be better.

[ReagansRaiders]

I'm all for people customizing their own letters. We just provided a sample for the lazy ones. :)

[MinuteGal]

I understand. The value of your sample letter is that it contains many great points from which the writer can extrapolate one or two of his own and create his own effective letter.

Thanks for providing the sample.

Leni

[Gopher Broke]

Thanks for leading the charge on this GREAT IDEA.

My letter to Macy's....

I am upset to see that Macy's is the LARGEST advertiser in the Washington Post. The Post is a horribly biased paper, promoting the liberal agenda.

As such, I will not again shop at Macy's until you drop your ads from the Post...and I will ask my friends and fellow churchgroup to do the same.

Stop supporting a biased Washington Post!

[Admin Moderator]

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Not this.

AM