Agencies Will Examine FCC Racism Charge

Ad agency lobby groups plan to pressure shops and clients to rethink the way media is bought following a Federal Communications Commission report accusing the industry of racism.
“We’re asking the industry to look closely at its advertising practices and see where the incongruities lie,” said Wally Snyder, president of the American Advertising Federation. The FCC found that advertisers routinely discriminate against minority-owned broadcasters and stations with large black and Hispanic audiences, either by not buying media or refusing to pay the same rates non-minority stations charge.
Snyder will meet with FCC Chairman William Kennard, advertisers and the heads of agencies and media services Feb.