Rudy Giuliani Wants Equal Time From New York Times
By Tom Brune, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Sep. 14–WASHINGTON — Rudy Giuliani to The New York Times: Give me a full-page ad today, a discount, and an apology, too.
That’s the demand Giuliani made yesterday as he accused the Times, MoveOn.org and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) of “character assassination” for an ad in the Times Monday attacking the credibility of Army Gen. David Petraeus in his Iraq progress reports this week.
“I call upon The New York Times to give us the same rate, the discount, heavily discounted rate they gave MoveOn.org for that abominable ad,” Giuliani said in Atlanta.
After seeing a report in the New York Post that MoveOn.org paid $65,000 for a full page ad, which has a full rate cost of $167,000, Giuliani submitted an ad to the Times last night that he wants run today. His ad accuses Democrats of orchestrating attacks on Petraeus and defends the general.
Neither Giuliani’s aide nor the Times would say if his ad will run or, if it does, at what cost.
The Times declined to say what it charged MoveOn.org for the ad. But it said the usual cost of a full-page black-and-white advocacy ad that would run standby — meaning it would appear on a day of the paper’s choice within a seven-day window — was $64,575.
Giuliani, facing flagging poll numbers, used the controversy to raise money and his profile. “Hillary Clinton, The New York Times, MoveOn.org should apologize for what they did,” he said.
Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said while Giuliani supports the Bush Iraq policy and believes it is working, “Sen. Clinton knows it isn’t and will keep up her efforts to end the war. She believes the best way to honor our heroes in Iraq is to bring them home.”
Neither the Times nor MoveOn.org issued apologies.
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