Meanwhile the advertising policies of the Los Angeles Times are also coming under scrutiny. Last week the group Free Press attempted to take out an advertisement in the paper to announce the FCC’s public hearings in Los Angeles on the new media ownership rules. The Los Angeles Times originally said the ad would cost $25,000 then bumped the price up to over $100,000 because they claimed it was an advocacy advertisement. Craig Aaron of Free Press says the paper then offered a lower rate but only on certain conditions.

• Craig Aaron: “They said they would give us the $40,000 rate on this revised ad, as long as we removed the phrase, quote, “that would allow the largest media companies to get even bigger,” which is how we described the new rules being put forward by the FCC, and we deleted any mention of our own website. The Tribune Company just happens to be the primary mover behind the push to end the ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership.”

Free Press decided not to take out the ad.