Newspaper to Use More Black Models in Ads : Washington Post Reacts to Real Estate Survey

The Washington Post has a new policy designed to ensure that more black models are used in real estate ads in the newspaper to better reflect a cross-section of the Washington-area community, it was announced Tuesday.

The agreement, which will take effect Sept. 5, was negotiated with the Post by the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law after the results of a 16-month survey of real estate ads were brought to the newspaper’s attention, according to Kerry Scanlon, a committee lawyer.

The agreement was negotiated on behalf of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, the Metropolitan Washington Planning and Housing Assn. and Girardeau Spann, a Georgetown University law professor.

Demonstrated Commitment

“We went to the Post because it has demonstrated a commitment to fair housing. The Post responded immediately,” Scanlon said at a news conference.

“This is the first agreement of its kind in the country in which specific requirements for the use of black models” in advertising are spelled out, he said.

The survey conducted between Jan. 1, 1985, and April 19, 1986, found that of the 5,300 models depicted in 1,600 real estate ads in the newspaper, less than 2% were black.

The study also found that 91% of the ads either did not display Equal Housing Opportunity logos or displayed logos not in compliance with federal guidelines, Scanlon said.

Policy Spelled Out

The new policy says blacks must make up at least 25% of each real estate advertisement using three or more models. Blacks make up about 28% of the metropolitan area’s population, which includes suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.

In ads for a particular residential development that show one model, one or two couples or a single family, at least one out of every four ads is to include one or more blacks.

The policy will also enforce federal standards requiring the publication of the Equal Housing Opportunity logo in ads.

“We had a general policy before of having models represent a cross-section of the community but didn’t monitor it,” said Boisfeuillet Jones Jr., vice president and counsel for the Post. “We left it to the advertisers to implement it.

“We were glad the statistics (in the survey) were brought to our attention, and we don’t think advertisers will have any problem with the new policy,” Jones said.