Poynter on the Record

Some newspaper subscribers in Montana will find their Election Day papers wrapped in something seldom seen here -- a political advertisement.

The National Rifle Association said Monday it is buying plastic bag "wrap" advertising in seven or eight Montana newspapers to show support for Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who is in a tight race for re-election. Only some of those newspapers will be wrapped in the advertising on Election Day and others will be delivered earlier with the ad wrapping, said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

The campaign of Democratic challenger Jon Tester said sending newspapers out in a bag emblazoned with pro-Burns language on Election Day could confuse readers.

"It runs the risk of an implied endorsement from the newspaper," said Tester spokesman Matt McKenna. ...

... Kelly McBride, an ethics trainer for journalists at the Poynter Institute, said newspapers that sell the plastic wrap advertising usually have no grounds to refuse to sell it to political campaigns.

But she said it is a good idea for the news departments of those papers to tell readers about the advertising, so they understand it has been purchased and is not the newspaper's endorsement of a candidate.
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