What Qualifies as a Paid Advertisement?
Aside from classified ads and display ads, paid advertisements can take many forms in The Lincoln County News. Below are some examples:
- Card of Thanks: A card of thanks is a paid advertisement thanking individuals, businesses, or sponsors. If the thank-you is generalized and directed toward the whole community, it can be submitted as a free letter to the editor.
- Birthday Announcement: A birthday announcement is a great way to express well-wishes for a friend or family member for their special day.
- In Memoriam: An in memoriam is typically located on the obituary page and is used to honor the memory of a deceased loved one.
- Paid Obituary: While obituaries under 300 words are usually free, The Lincoln County News requests payment for obituaries under some circumstances. For a free obituary, the deceased must have lived or worked in Lincoln County at some time or have Lincoln County survivors listed in the obituary, and the obituary must contain fewer than 300 words. The Lincoln County News also edits obituaries to fit AP style. If survivors want the obituary published as-is without edits, this constitutes a paid obituary.
- Political Advertisements: A political advertisement is defined for our purposes as a paid advertisement by any individual, group, business, or entity which makes claims about, supports, or contends with any candidate running for office or referendum question, or has a call to action to unite behind a political view or vote for a particular party, individual, or question.
There are many other options for paid advertisements. Essentially, a paid advertisement is a guarantee that an item will be printed in The Lincoln County News.
Advertising Rates
Click here to see our Advertising Rate Card for ad sizes, rates, and deadlines. Alternatively, email the advertising department at ads@lcnme.com or call us at 207-563-3171 with any questions. Please note that the advertising department typically needs to see the content of the ad before any size recommendations can be made.
Guidelines for Submitting Advertisements
- To submit an advertisement, please fill out the advertisement form or send an email to ads@lcnme.com before the deadline (see Rate Card).
- Please submit ad copy either in a Microsoft Word-compatible document (.doc, .docx, etc.) or in the body of the email.
- Images and PDF ads should be sent as email attachments with the ad copy (if applicable).
- We accept most image file types for ads, but PDF format is preferable.
The Lincoln County News appreciates your desire to advertise and wants to be your partner in spreading the word about your business, group, organization, or cause. While we generally will accept and work with you to get your message spread out to our faithful readers, there are some exceptions to what will be published. We will reject any advertisement that pertains to or contains any of the following:
- Illegal drugs or activities (either federal or state, whichever is more restrictive)
- Dating and escort services, personal ads
- Sexual acts, nudity, associated adult products and services
- Payday and other predatory loans and lending programs
- Multilevel marketing schemes
- Counterfeit documents or items
- Gruesome images
- False or misleading information
- Pets for sale or giveaway (unless a seller’s license number is present)
- Hate words or actions about any group based on sex, religion, race, or any other protected class
Political Advertisements
Political races continue to become more controversial each election cycle, with more disruptors and misinformation being spread via all media. As part of our commitment to the community, we are pledging to not promote negative advertisements and will not publish these ads in the paper or online.
Candidates, their committees, and supporters are encouraged to advertise, and the newspaper provides a respected platform. We encourage groups to run positive campaigns and express what they are doing, plan to do, or would like to accomplish. In an effort to ensure a fair and honest campaign, these rules will be used as a guide for accepting political advertising.
A political advertisement is defined for our purposes as a paid advertisement by any individual, group, business, or entity which makes claims about, supports, or contends with any candidate running for office or referendum question, or has a call to action to unite behind a political view or vote for a particular party, individual, or question.
The following list contains items that would cause us to reject an advertisement. If an ad is rejected, we will talk with the advertiser on how to arrive at a suitable advertisement.
- Attack ads solely meant to discredit a political candidate or question
- Claims of statements made by political candidates without attribution to a specific source, or a source that proves noncredible
- Manipulations of images or data to discredit a candidate or question
- Information prohibited from regular advertising
What must be contained in a political advertisement:
Political ads will have “POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT” run across the top of the advertisement. In cases of full-depth political ads (21 in. tall), the same language will be run across the bottom of the advertisement.
Ads must include a paid for and authorized by statement which falls into three categories:
- Paid for and authorized by candidate or candidate’s committee
- Paid for by another party and authorized by the candidate or candidate’s committee
- Paid for by a party and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Political ads must include a name and full formal address or telephone number which will be run with the advertisement. These statements and information must be at least 12 point in size and in black text (or white text on a completely black background).
The Lincoln County News reserves the right to reject any advertisement for any reason.
If you have any questions, please send an email to info@lcnme.com or call us at 207-563-3171.
