Editorial Board votes to allow Tribal Council candidate campaign ads

The newly created Editorial Board voted unanimously on Friday, June 2, to allow Tribal Council candidate ads in Smoke Signals.

However, there will be limitations.

Only nominated Tribal Council candidates can advertise in Smoke Signals for the editions that they can meet the newspaper’s already delineated deadlines.

Tribal Council candidates will pay the non-Tribal advertising rate of $8 per column inch and not receive any discounts for the size of their ad.

Tribal Council candidates will be limited to one full page of advertising total in Smoke Signals with a limit of a half-page ad being the largest ad that can run in any issue. Tribal Council candidates can only buy four quarter-page ads, two half-page ads or two quarter-page ads and a half-page ad in the four editions that are published after Tribal Council nominations and before Tribal Election Day.

Candidate ads are subject to the same editorial policy as other submissions to Smoke Signals. Candidates should tell voters why they should be elected, not why voters should not vote for another candidate.

All campaign ads must be pre-paid and submitted ready to run. Ad placement requests will not be allowed.

Editorial Board members said that since Tribal Council candidates currently must pay an outside agency for a full mailing to the membership, it would be better that they use that money to help support an independent Tribal press.

In addition, by making candidates pay the non-Tribal advertising rate, it ensures the Tribe is not subsidizing a candidate’s run for office.

Other Tribal newspapers, such as the Confederated Umatilla Journal in Pendleton, regularly run paid candidates ads as a way to help fund their program and allow candidates to reach the general membership.

The Editorial Board also hired Dean Rhodes as editor of Smoke Signals and elected officers with Siobhan Taylor as chairwoman, Monty Herron as vice chair and David Harrelson as secretary. Mia Prickett and Andy Jenness round out the board’s membership.

The board’s next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 14, in Room 204 of the Governance Center. It is open to the public.