USA Today Is Sponsoring Inauguration

USA Today, the Gannett Co. Inc.’s national newspaper, has signed on as an “official sponsor” of President Reagan’s inauguration and given inaugural planners free space for 12 full-page advertisements in its pages, inaugural officials say.

A USA Today official said Friday that the national newspaper’s unprecedented move presents no conflict of interest. “The inauguration is not a partisan event; it’s not a government event. It’s an American event,” said Charles Overby, vice president of communications for Gannett Co. Inc.

Several USA Today reporters, who asked to remain anonymous, and authorities on journalistic ethics questioned the propriety of the arrangement, saying there needs to be a clear separation between newspapers and government.

‘Special Rate’

When asked if the ads were free, Overby said: “I’m not going to go into how much we are charging. It is a special rate that is mutually satisfactory.” Overby refused to elaborate on the ad rates.

But Douglass Blaser, who handles marketing for the inaugural committee, said: “This is a donation of space. It’s free. That’s a special rate.”

Inaugural committee spokesman John Buckley said: “All the space is being donated.”

In addition, a list of inaugural sponsors released Friday by the committee show USA Today and Gannett as contributing at least $100,000, which is to be repaid at the end of February.

Sixty corporations and individuals representing defense, chemical, banking, transportation and media industries also loaned at least $100,000 each to the inaugural committee.

A committee spokesman said the $9 million that was raised to pay for inaugural events is expected to be repaid by sale of advertising, tickets to presidential balls and sale of mementos.

The cost of a full-page color ad in USA Today is usually about $28,000, Overby said. The inaugural committee is expected to run 12 ads, worth about $336,000, before the Jan. 21 inauguration.

Gannett’s Idea

Overby, who said the company approached the inaugural committee with the idea, said he thinks USA Today may be the first newspaper to sponsor an inauguration.

Blaser said USA Today, which Overby said has a circulation of 1.3 million, is the perfect vehicle to make sure that everyone in the country has “an opportunity to partake” in the celebration.

The ads, the first of which appeared Dec. 28, highlight the inaugural souvenirs, sales of which help defray the cost of the festivities and promote the event.

On Thursday, Richard M. Clurman, chairman of the Media and Society seminars run by Columbia University’s graduate School of Journalism, said: “I do not think newspapers should be sponsoring events put on by governments, whether they are state, local or federal. . . . There needs to be a separation between government and journalism.”

Gloria Cooper, Columbia Journalism Review managing editor, said: “A donation of such valuable space is bound to raise some questions about the (newspaper’s) coziness with the Administration and about its credibility.”

Overby responded that the arrangement will not influence the paper’s news coverage of the inauguration. “There is a separation of church and state here. There is nothing implicit or explicit about reporters writing favorable stories.”