As you may know, Common Ground is part of a family of sister magazines in other cities in North America, all operated by a company called Dragonfly Media.
At the center of our commitment to be a socially responsible company is our intention to operate in a transparent manner about what we do and why we do it. Our decision to use only 100% post-consumer recycled paper whenever available and then publish an ECO Audit each issue to show the consequences of that decision is but one example.
Which brings me to the reason I have asked all our editors to borrow their column for this issue: Common Ground has a difficult decision ahead of it. This magazine has received an insertion order from Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., a manufacturer of organic, “natural” tobacco products that is wholly owned by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco. As president of Dragonfly Media, I have made an interim decision to refuse publication of this advertisement (pictured here).
Some details: The amount of money we are turning down across four markets is around $12,000 — money sorely needed to cover the costs of producing this magazine. Dragonfly Media, only three years old and attempting to build an independent media company that provides a critical local alternative to the corporate, mainstream media, is losing money (as most new businesses do) and relies on outside investment to provide for that shortfall as we grow. Finding those investors is hard work. So that $12,000 is very significant to us at this early stage in our development, as is the possibility of additional revenue from this advertiser in the years ahead.
As I said, this is an interim decision on my part. I am writing to invite you, our cherished readers, to tell us how you want us to proceed. Our employees are not of one mind—we are in the midst of a great and healthy debate inside our company over what to do. Let me try to summarize some of the arguments on both sides of the issue.
We, like most organizations, have some employees who smoke, and they say that they appreciate the opportunity to learn of a new product that may be a better choice for them and believe that our readers who smoke would too. They and others argue that, by rejecting this ad, we would in some sense be disrespecting our readers, making a decision that precludes letting you make up your own mind. Finally, they argue that to refuse this account puts us on a slippery slope, putting this magazine in the position of adopting a policy of evaluating all advertising in our pages and implying some sort of approval if an account is allowed to run.
Others argue that a core part of the mission of this magazine is to educate and inform our readers so you can make choices that will enable you to live a more healthful and fulfilling life. They argue that tobacco, even organic “natural” tobacco, is a highly addictive powerful carcinogen that will in every case degrade the health of the user. They say actively assisting in the promotion of such a product would be a serious betrayal of Common Ground‘s core values. Finally, they point out that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco is a company with a despicable record of corporate irresponsibility and that Dragonfly Media should not become an active partner in their marketing efforts.
What do you think? We will publish an expanded letters section next issue and announce our decision in this space. — Ron Williams, President & CEO, Dragonfly Media