A recent FCC report found that advertisers often ignore or underpay ethnic radio and television stations. The same holds true, according to PNS commentator Lee Hubbard, even of the U.S. government as an advertiser and of print media as well. Hubbard is a writer on the staff of the San Francisco Bay View.

It's as simple as one, two, three, according to William Kennard, who chairs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

"Advertising is the lifeblood of the broadcasting industry. Without ad revenues, broadcasters cannot begin to fulfill their mandate to bring the American people. . . stations that serve all the people and the viewpoints of our nation."

Kennard's comments were based on an FCC study that showed advertisers often ignore or underpay minority owned and formatted stations, making them less profitable, and so ultimately jeopardizing their ability to serve their communities.

Kennard was talking about broadcasting -- the domain of the FCC -- but many publishers say his statements also apply to the various ethnic newspapers across the country. They report a Herculean struggle to get advertisers and ad agencies to buy space in their publications.

"When companies set their budgets for advertising, they feel that they can reach the ethnic buyer through general advertising. But that isn't the case," said Shelley Yamane, a Vice President of Muse Cordero and Chin, a multi-cultural advertising agency based in Los Angeles.

General advertisers often overlook communities that depend on ethnic media for news. The U.S. Government, the country's 19th largest advertiser, is no exception.

For example, in March, the New York Times carried a full-page ad placed by the office of National Drug Policy Control, and the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Headed "Sniffing Inhalants can kill your child all at once or one piece at a time" it depicted a brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver cells, to show how inhaling toxins from gasoline, marker pens, and other easily available sources can damage organs.

The ad was brash and effective -- but it apparently has not appeared in any ethnic papers. Critics said that the cost of a full-page ad in the Times could be used to buy space for the same ad in several ethnic papers.

Alan Levitt, a spokesperson for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, would not comment on the ad, but said his office advertises through various media outlets and "has multi-cultural outreaches."

"We are trying to reach out to various ethnic groups," said Levitt. "But we can't buy in every paper."

Yamane, whose agency does a lot of work with the office, said that ads which appear in mainstream papers may not appear in ethnic media.

"What we are doing in the ethnic target markets is based on needs and relevancy," said Yamane. "Inhalants aren't a major concern in the Japanese market, but we might do an ad on smoking marijuana in that market."

According to Yamane, the drug control Office targets the 25 cities with the largest black and Hispanic populations, and is working on targeting the six largest Asian markets. She hopes this can "set a precedent for the private sector to advertise in ethnic papers," because it makes "good business sense."

But even with extended outreach, many ethnic publications are still overlooked -- sometimes as a matter of policy. Last year, at Katz Media Group, a firm that places ads on radio stations in different markets, a memo circulated stating that ads should not be placed in black or Hispanic owned or formatted media because "advertisers want prospects not suspects."

This created a firestorm of activity in the black and Hispanic communities and brought an apology from Stuart Olds, president of Katz, on the Tom Joyner show, a nationally syndicated black talk show.

"I want your listeners to know that it was totally unacceptable and not reflective of the way we strive to do business inside or our organization," said Olds.

While Olds may have been sincere, news of the memo led black and Hispanic radio broadcasters to move against discrimination in advertisement. The Rev. Al Sharpton in New York has started advocating what he calls a "war on Madison Avenue racism."

Hispanic and Black lawmakers who are also questioning corporation and ad agency practices towards minority media on airwaves regulated by the Government.

For FCC chairman Kennard, the answer is the bottom line. "Some advertisers are stuck in an out-dated mindset," he wrote. "They do not recognize the purchasing power of minority consumers and the ability of minority-formatted stations to reach them."