President Fernando Lugo's government has purchased ads on 51 community radio stations, none of which are allowed to air commercials and only three of which are operating with the proper legal permits, ABC Color reports. The stations deny those charges. read more »

A paper by economists Rafael Di Tella of Harvard and Ignacio Franceschelli of Northwestern shows a strong correlation between government advertising dollars and front-page newspaper coverage of corruption scandals, Joshua Benton reports for the Nieman Journalism Lab. read more »

Media owners, journalists, and opposition politicians have warned of President Daniel Ortega’s intentions to silence critics by shutting down radio frequencies, El Nuevo Diario reports. read more »

To combat perceptions that the industry is doomed, several executives have launched the campaign featuring newspaper ads and commentaries, and a new Web site, Jay Reeves reports for the Associated Press. Industry analyst Ken Doctor applauds the project but says its very name—the "Newspaper project"— reveals a fundamental problem. "By 2009, I would have hoped editors would have realized this is not about paper, it's about news," he tells the AP. read more »

Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, says the online video advertising market will emerge a winner from the global economic downturn as companies seek cheaper, more precise ways to promote their products, Reuters reports.

Hurley, who is also president of YouTube (which is owned by Google), said the rapid growth in demand for online videos means his website was reaching larger, more valuable audiences, Ben Hirschler writes. read more »

Former Paraguayan president Nicanor Duarte authorized payments equivalent to US$ 13 million to journalists and media during the last 20 months of his term in an effort to boost the campaign of the incumbent presidential candidate and his own candidacy to a Senate seat, the MercoPress news agency reports. read more »

By cutting its commercial breaks from four to one for some programs, TV Globo has already noticed positive results in retaining its audience, the Agência Estado reports, citing a study by Controle da Concorrência (Competition Control), which monitors media advertising.

In the case of the evening soap opera Três Irmãs (Three Sisters), Globo has reduced the number of commercial breaks from four to two, and one.

The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors up to $300 million over three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs, and public service announcements for the Iraqi media in an effort to "engage and inspire" the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government, write Karen de Young and Walter Pincus of the Washington Post. read more »

Unlike the last recession in 2001, when local markets stayed insulated from the fallout of the dot-com bust, they are not immune to this one, and that's bad news for local media, writes Abbey Klaassen of Advertising Age.

"The flu is universal," says radio consultant Paul Jacobs. "If the big auto companies cut back on advertising because sales are down, the dealerships follow. And if potential car buyers can't clear credit, then sales fall, leading some dealers to question why they need to advertise in the first place. read more »

So-called "coyotes" take advantage of the limited control over ads in smaller media markets to broadcast messages urging people to travel "comfortably and safely" to the United States, Prensa Libre reported.

According to the newspaper, human traffickers offer their illegal services mainly through provincial radio, but also in some print media. "We travel north in quality buses, with air conditioning, and there is only one hour to walk at the border with Mexico," said one of the ads. read more »

Name-brand products regularly appear on TV dramas, comedies, and reality programs. But in recent weeks, anchors at the Fox TV affiliate in Las Vegas, KVVU, have delivered selected portions of the morning news with cups of McDonald's iced coffee on their desks, The New York Times reports. read more »

The classified ads on the Internet say they are from contract killers offering their services and can be found beside ads for private tutors and domestic help, BBC reports.

In one of the ads, a person describing himself as a former military killer offers “discreet, professional services” for $6,000. Another claims to be “100 professional” and not to charge in advance. One classified ad in the “Wanted” section, sought out a contract killer in the Federal District, stating “It is a simple job,” BBC said. read more »

Speaking to members of the National Advertising Association, Juan Camilo Mouriño urged media owners, journalists and advertisers to disseminate messages "that make it possible in Mexico to create a culture of unrestricted attachment and respect for our laws and for legality," La Jornada reported.

Mouriño urged the audience to create advertising campaigns that incorporate values such as freedom, justice, respect for life, and family and community unity. read more »