Oregon Tax Vote Prompts 'Spadea' Ad War

The Oregonian today ran a wrap-around spadea ad for a pro-tax group seeking voter approval of two tax measures on an upcoming ballot Tuesday, the paper reported. Its story added that an original ad that was rejected by the paper had included criticism of The Oregonian. Willamette Week, the local alternative, reported Publisher N. Christian Anderson (left) was the target in the previous version and claimed he stepped in to change the approach. The pro-tax spadea followed three previous spadeas the paper ran from an anti-tax group.

When one of those anti-tax ads ran last Sunday, Anderson also published a note to readers explaining it. --Joe Strupp