The American Spectator

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Washington Prowler

The New York Times in the past has rejected "advocacy" ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as well as from the National Right to Life Committee, despite the fact that both would have qualified for the same "special advocacy, stand by" rates that the radical, left-wing organization MoveOn.org was given for its smear ad of Gen. David Petraeus.

MoveOn, which is largely financed by billionaire George Soros, as well as other major financial donors to the Democratic National Committee, was given a $100,000 discount for the ad which called the U.S. commander of armed forces in Iraq a traitor. According to a MoveOn organizer in Washington, D.C., the organization has raised more than twice that amount since the full-page ad appeared in the Times earlier this week. "It was a great fundraising opportunity for us." The source added that the group was looking to perhaps turn the ad into a poster that they could further fundraise off of.

The Times claimed that MoveOn was given no special treatment, but several organizations that sought to place ads in a similar manner in past years have been turned away or were told that the ads were bumped for higher paying ads.

According to a former New York Times ad sales staffer, a coalition of pro-life groups attempted to take out a full-page ad in the Times during the Terri Schiavo debate in Congress, but were turned away. "I think that such a group would have qualified for our advocacy discount, but perhaps the policies changed in the past couple of years," says the ad rep.

Similarly, during the 2004 election season, a representative from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth sought to place a full-page ad in the paper, but was turned away.

The MoveOn staffer said that the organization was made aware of the discount from a New York Times reporter based in New York.

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Iraq