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Pub Manual 101: Advertising Policies

September 10, 2014 by Kenna Griffin

This is the 12th post in a series intended to help you draft or improve your student media staff’s publications manual. Posts in this series will run on Wednesdays throughout the summer. The posts’ titles will start with “Pub Manual 101″ and include the Pub Manual 101 logo.

 

Student media should take payment from any advertiser willing to pay for space, right? Wrong! At least this statement is incorrect at the university where I advise.

Pub Manual logoI work at a private, Methodist-affiliated university. The student media are housed in the mass communications department, where the newsroom and television station serve as student employers, but also as course labs. As such, they are funded primarily through university’s academic budget. The staff’s advertising revenue is a small portion of their budget.

Because the student media is funded mostly by the university, the editors have set policies through the years about what types of advertising they accept. The majority of these policies are the result of administrator requests that seemed logical to the editorial board at the time.

The general advertising policy reads:

Advertising is accepted and encouraged in Student Publications. An editor or the Advertising Director must approve all advertising sales. Advertising must meet general standards of taste. Any advertisement can be refused.”

It then outlines the types of advertising we don’t accept as follows:

  • Those advertising specials on specific alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.
  • Those advertising courses available at other universities when the same courses are offered at OCU.
  • Those looking for nude or topless dancers.
  • Those needing the vague description of “models.”
  • Those for birth control methods or health “studies.”
  • Those announcing employment opportunities that sound “too good to be true.”
  • Those advertising gambling.

The policies are meant to keep student publications in line with the university’s core beliefs, missions, and policies, and to keep students safe from potential harm.

While these policies may not work everywhere, they are reasonable here. Please use them if they will help you draft similarly helpful policies for your student media outlet.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above (typically those to books) may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I promise that I only recommend products or services I use personally and think will provide you value. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Prof KRG

Prof KRG aims to create an ongoing educational dialogue among media professionals, students and educators.

Please let me know what resources you need or topics you wish you better understood. If I don't know the information, I'm happy to seek out someone who does.

Contact me via email at kennagriffin@gmail.com.

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About Kenna Griffin

I am a mass communications professor, journalist and collegiate media adviser. I teach classes including those on writing, reporting, media law, media ethics, social media marketing, and public relations. I am married, have two children and live in Oklahoma. More about this site's purpose

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