Advertisers Influence Media More, Report Says : News: Center for the Study of Commercialism says the recession is pushing some media outlets to alter coverage to protect their advertising revenue.

The influence that advertisers wield over stories appearing in newspapers, magazines and on broadcast stations has increased during the recession, according to a study released Wednesday by a public interest group.

The 62-page study documents dozens of examples--almost half anonymous--of how fear of riling advertisers has allegedly pressured some news organizations to revise or kill stories. It was written by a law professor at Catholic University for the Washington-based Center for the Study of Commercialism.

The report recommends the establishment of a national clearinghouse to document the problem of growing advertiser influence. It also proposes national whistle-blower laws to protect journalists who report on the issue.

“Can the American press stand up to General Electric, Procter & Gamble, R. J. Reynolds the same way it now stands up to the government?” posed Ronald K. L. Collins, author of the study and co-founder of the center. “What’s standing in the way is advertising dollars.”

During the recession, more advertisers are probably trying to influence how the media covers them, said Cathie Black, president of the American Newspaper Publishers Assn. “But I am not convinced the media has caved in,” she said.

During her tenure as publisher of USA Today, Black said she received complaints from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. over what they considered to be the newspaper’s favorable treatment of Japanese cars. Black said she discussed the concerns with editors at the paper, but the complaints “did not influence” editorial coverage.

The study comes at a particularly sensitive time. Newspaper ad revenues were down 5% nationally in 1991 compared to 1990. Magazine industry ad revenue fell 2.5% in 1991, and the Big Three TV networks saw ad revenues drop $300 million in 1991 compared to the year before.

Media analysts say that while most major metropolitan newspapers have adopted more ethical positions on these issues, many magazines have not.

“This problem is especially pervasive in the magazine industry,” said John Morton, analyst at the Washington office of the investment firm Lynch, Jones & Ryan.

Executives at the Magazine Publishers Assn. were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

The study assailed Newsweek for a 56-page special advertising issue it published last fall promoting Walt Disney World. Collins said the issue--mailed free to Newsweek subscribers--looked too much like a regular issue. And he criticized Newsweek for not clearly labeling the issue--on the cover--as an advertising vehicle.

“We made it clear that this was not an issue of Newsweek,” insisted Don Durgin, Newsweek vice chairman. The cover was redesigned to look different from regular issues of the magazine and inside there was a box explaining that it was a special issue, he said.

Responding to the study’s finding of growing advertiser influence, Shelby Coffey III, editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times, said: “That kind of difficulty has not confronted The Times. We have a long-established tradition of editorial independence.”

Among the newspapers the study criticized for being overly influenced by advertisers was the Arkansas Democrat (now the Democrat-Gazette), which last year told a columnist not to criticize advertisers.

The paper’s managing editor sticks by that policy. “We do not hire opinion writers to trash advertisers,” said John Robert Starr, managing editor. “No newspaper would do that.”