Ad agency promotes advertising to support local news media, saying ad folks are culpable in journalism's decline

Boston-based advertising agency Allen & Gerritsen has a new initiative called "Protect Our Press" to support and preserve local, professional newsrooms across the nation through advertising. 

"Protect Our Press calls on agencies, brands, publishers and individuals to take a pledge," Evelyn Mateos reports for Editor & Publisher. "It asks agencies to create a meaningful target, such as 20 percent of their programmatic budget to news sites; brands to review and rethink their approach to local news investments; publishers to create smarter, better value for Protect Our Press participants, and individuals to subscribe to one or more local news publishers."

"It’s time to admit that the advertising industry has been culpable in the decline of local journalism," A&G Senior Vice President of Media Will Phipps said in a press release. "Agencies have been complicit by excluding 'news' from clients' plans, fearing the unpredictable nature of the category. But the reality is that there’s a great opportunity in the local news community, and when we start to collaborate with our clients to seize these moments, we have the ability to help build back this critical pillar of journalism."

A&G is partnering with Boston Globe Media and other organizations on the project, Mateos reports.