Political Advertising Policies for Desert Messenger- Quartzsite, Arizona

It's political season again in Quartzsite. As a courtesy to political candidates, Desert Messenger is posting the requirements for advertising published by Arizona Newspaper Association and ARS Statutes regulating advertising for candidates.  SEE BELOW: It is the candidate's responsibility to know the law.

DESERT MESSENGER POLICY:

Political advertising, advertising on public policy questions and controversial issues will be prepaid. These ads must contain “Paid for by...” the name and contact of person(s) or organization(s) responsible for the advertisement.

CANDIDATE ADVERTISEMENTS

Any advertisement by a candidate or political committee that advocates the election or

defeat of any candidate or solicits contributions to a political committee shall state that it

was paid for by the candidate or the candidate’s campaign committee, if that statement is

accurate, or shall state the name of the political committee that paid for the

advertisement, identify the chairman of the political committee and provide a telephone

number for that individual.

If the literature or advertisement is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s

campaign, the advertisement shall so state. If the advertisement is an independent

expenditure (i.e., an expenditure by a person or political committee, other than a

candidate’s campaign committee, that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a

clearly identified candidate, that is made without cooperation or consultation or at the

request or suggestion of any candidate or committee or agent of the candidate) by a

political committee, the advertisement shall also state the names and telephone numbers

of the three political committees making the largest contributions to the political

committee that paid for the advertisement. If an acronym is used to identify any political

committee, the name of any sponsoring organization of the political committee must also

be identified.

The required disclosures must be printed clearly and legibly in a conspicuous manner in

the advertisement. In printed advertisements, the disclosure must appear in a font that is

at least 3/32 inches tall in a dark type on a light background surrounded by a dark box.

§ 16-901(14), (19). Definitions

In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

14. “Independent expenditure” means an expenditure by a person or

political committee, other than a candidate’s campaign committee, that expressly

advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, that is made without

cooperation or consultation with any candidate or committee or agent of the candidate

and that is not made in concert with or at the request or suggestion of a candidate, or any

committee or agent of the candidate. Independent expenditure includes an expenditure

that is subject to the requirements of section 16-917 which requires a copy of campaign

literature or advertisement to be sent to a candidate named or otherwise referred to in the

literature or advertisement. An expenditure is not an independent expenditure if any of

the following applies:

(a) Any officer, member, employee or agent of the political

committee making the expenditure is also an officer, member, employee or

agent of the committee of the candidate whose election or whose opponent’s

defeat is being advocated by the expenditure or an agent of the candidate whose

election or whose opponent’s defeat is being advocated by the expenditure.

(b) There is any arrangement, coordination or direction with

respect to the expenditure between the candidate or the candidate’s agent and the

person making the expenditure, including any officer, director, employee or

agent of that person.

(c) In the same election the person making the expenditure,

including any officer, director, employee or agent of that person, is or has been:

(i) Authorized to raise or expend monies on behalf of the

candidate or the candidate’s authorized committees.

(ii) Receiving any form of compensation or

reimbursement from the candidate, the candidate’s committees or the

candidate’s agent.

(d) The expenditure is based on information about the candidate’s

plans, projects or needs, or those of his campaign committee, provided to the

expending person by the candidate or by the candidate’s agents or any officer,

member or employee of the candidate’s campaign committee with a view

toward having the expenditure made.

19. “Political committee” means a candidate or any association or

combination of persons that is organized, conducted or combined for the purpose of

influencing the result of any election or to determine whether an individual will become a

candidate for election in this state or in any county, city, town, district or precinct in this

state, that engages in political activity in behalf of or against a candidate for election or

retention or in support of or opposition to an initiative, referendum or recall or any other

measure or proposition and that applies for a serial number and circulates petitions and,

in the case of a candidate for public office except those exempt pursuant to section 16-

903, that receives contributions or makes expenditures in connection therewith,

notwithstanding that the association or combination of persons may be part of a larger

association, combination of persons or sponsoring organization not primarily organized,

conducted or combined for the purpose of influencing the result of any election in this

state or in any county, city, town or precinct in this state.

§ 16-912(A)-(E). Candidates and independent expenditures; campaign literature and

advertisement sponsors; identification; civil penalty

A. A political committee that makes an expenditure for campaign literature or

advertisements that expressly advocate the election or defeat of any candidate or that make any

solicitation of contributions to any political committee shall be registered pursuant to this chapter

at the time of distribution, placement or solicitation and shall include on the literature or

advertisement the words “paid for by” followed by the name of the committee that appears on its

statement of organization or five hundred dollar exemption statement.

B. If the expenditure for the campaign literature or advertisements by a political

committee is an independent expenditure, the political committee, in addition to the disclosures

required by subsection A of this section, shall include on the literature or advertisement the names

and telephone numbers of the three political committees making the largest contributions to the

political committee making the independent expenditure. If an acronym is used to name any

political committee outlined in this section, the name of any sponsoring organization of the

political committee shall also be printed or spoken. For purposes of determining the three

contributors to be disclosed, the contributions of each political committee making the independent

expenditure during the one year period before the election being affected are aggregated.

C. Subsection A of this section does not apply to bumper stickers, pins, buttons,

pens and similar small items on which the statements required in subsection A of this section

cannot be conveniently printed or to signs paid for by a candidate with campaign monies or by a

candidate’s campaign committee or to a solicitation of contributions by a separate segregated fund

from those persons it may solicit pursuant to §§ 16-920 and 16-921.

D. The disclosures required pursuant to this section shall be printed clearly and

legibly in a conspicuous manner or, if the advertisement is broadcast on a telecommunications

system, the disclosure shall be spoken. For printed material that is delivered or provided by hand

or by mail, the disclosure shall be printed in a font that is at least 3/32 inches tall in dark type on

light background surrounded by a dark box. For communications that are broadcast on a

telecommunications system or other medium that can provide a viewable disclosure and a spoken

disclosure, the disclosure may be made in printed format only and a spoken disclosure is not

required.

E. A person who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of up to three

times the cost of producing and distributing the literature or advertisement. This civil penalty

shall be imposed as prescribed in § 16-924.

For all your Quartzsite Advertising needs, contact 

Shanana "Rain" Golden-Bear, Publisher of Desert Messenger, 

Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper 

at 928-916-4235. 

Email Editor@DesertMessenger.com.

2013-2014 Rate Card is available at www.DesertMessenger.com. 

Quartzsite publisher speaks out against tabloid's copyright infringement

EDITORIAL by Shanana "Rain" Golden-Bear
Publisher Desert Messenger, Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, 

but theft is a sin.” ― Elena

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery… Sounds good, right? But how does a person deal with a competitor stealing Copyrighted advertising materials? Well, my first emotional response was naturally that of anger; but then the moment arrived when I was able to turn that anger into constructive action and this editorial was born. 

In an effort to support transparency, and demand true justice in Quartzsite, I believe we must hold ourselves and others accountable for what we are doing in our community. So, allow me to shed some light on the subject ….

In the October 20, 2012 issue of The Desert Freedom Press, there are a minimum of five (5) Display Ads I personally designed for my clients which were printed without my permission. The publisher, Jennifer “Jade” Jones, who still operates without a current Quartzsite business license, evidently chose to ignore or outright violate the Copyright Notice published in each and every issue of the Desert Messenger as well as General Advertising Policies posted online at www.DesertMessenger.com.

Desert Messenger’s General Policies, page 2, of 2012-2013 Advertising Rate Card states, “All advertising copy, photos and illustrations prepared by the Desert Messenger are the property of the Desert Messenger and may not be reproduced for other use without prior approval in writing. Graphic Design Services, special requests, preparing ads for other publications, or excessive changes from ordered proofs may result in additional charges at $40 per hour.”

Over the past four years, I have developed professional working relationships with local newspapers near Quartzsite. We cooperate with each other in a professional manner, sharing ad creatives with the expressed written permission from our clients. However, that has never been the case with Jones. 

The theft of copyrighted material and lies has been an ongoing issue in Jones’ tabloid since the very first edition. However, the occurrences of Desert Messenger Copyright Protected display ads appearing in her paper have recently increased.

Now, before Jones responds accusing me of libeling her “good name”, I can provide dated emails containing the ad proofs I provided to my clients. Obviously I designed the ads long before her publication was printed! So, if she were to publicly apologize for the theft of copyrighted material, I would be open to accepting her apology along with a change in her behavior. However, more likely than not, Jones will find some minor flaws in my words, tear apart some legal technicality or try to make it all my fault for allowing her to steal my work. Or maybe she’ll say ALL FIVE of those advertisers instructed her to steal the ads from me! Yeah, right! All in attempt to detract from taking responsibility for her actions.

I could spent hours shrink wrapping every ad to slow down the process of future theft attempts, or include watermarks on every page online. However, I feel it is important for the readers of Desert Messenger to have unlimited, unobstructed, access to the online edition. I could spend much of my time trying to thwart the inevitable theft of ads from a publisher who continues to operate her business without a license. But with much of Jones' tabloid design being a total imitation of Quartzsite's Desert Messenger, one only has to conclude Desert Messenger is the envy of her every action.

Silence is not golden when it comes to theft, cyber-bulling, or intimidation. I have remained silent on many serious issues regarding Jennifer Jones. But the time has come to speak up. I doubt I would find any small business owner who would allow the theft of their merchandise to go unreported. 


But theft aside, when someone "lifts" a piece of work from an Internet site and includes it in print, the quality seriously deteriorates. If an ad cannot be read, it's totally useless and the advertiser should not pay for it. It would benefit every advertiser to have their ad created for them by each publication - or to cooperate with local media reps to receive a proper version of their ad, alleviating the issue completely.

To put things into perspective: 
the fact that Jones would rather steal my ads than create her own design work, 
only shows me how well the ads were designed; 
and that advertising in the Desert Messenger 
REALLY works! 

Every perceived negative situation can be transformed into a Positive one!

So Mrs. Jones… I say... Thank you for the compliments!

To summarize the problematic issues of envy,

“Never trust anyone who wants what you’ve got. 

Friend or no, envy is an overwhelming emotion.”

– Eubie Blake