With the Federal Trade Commission approving the $13.5 billion merger between advertising giants Omnicom Group and The Interpublic Group of Companies with a consent decree stipulating they refrain from discriminating against conservative outlets, a key question remains: Will they still rely on NewsGuard?
The FTC decree — released last week with a 30 day public comment period — aims to prevent the merged entity from engaging in anticompetitive practices, particularly those related to Big Censorship (sometimes labeled the Censorship Industrial Complex).
The FTC’s order indicated that Omnicom and IPG had violated the law, specifically the Clayton and Federal Trade Commission Acts, by illegally colluding to boycott targeted groups and other violations.
Rather than charging the agencies, the FTC allowed the ad companies to agree to the Consent Order and stipulate to stop doing anti-competitive acts after the merger is approved.
The FTC decree prohibits the merged company from directing advertisers’ spending away from publishers due to their political or ideological stance and from using “exclusion lists” that differentiate publishers by political views.
In the past several ad agencies, Omnicom and IPG included, have signed on to DEI-backed initiatives that targeted “disinformation” media outlets.
The disinformation term became a code word for largely preventing conservative media outlets from getting advertising from large ad agencies.
Legal expert Jonathan Turley has called the disinformation scheme used by ad agencies and NewsGuard “a massive censorship system.”
To enforce such advertising bans, agencies used so-called media monitors, many with a left-wing bent, including NewsGuard, Media Matters for America, GDI, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, and the Trusted News Initiative.
Perhaps the most influential is NewsGuard which has been used by both Omincom, IPG or their subsidiaries.
NewsGuard has been accused of anticonservative bias by the FTC, FCC, and House committees.
For example, NewsGuard rates the Washington Post a perfect 100 even after the outlet's faulty reporting on the origins of COVID-19 and Hunter Biden’s laptop, and its false assertions that President Donald Trump was some sort of agent working for Russia.
While the merger will create the world’s largest media buying agency with an estimated $25 billion in annual revenue, it is still unclear if Omnicom or IPG will stop using NewsGuard or other media monitors.
Newsmax contacted Omnicom and IPG to ask of NewsGuard’s status or their use of other media monitors. Neither company responded for comment.
“We are deeply concerned about the FTC’s order because it says nothing about media monitors, politicized ratings from NewsGuard and other who have turned disinformation into a censorship racket,” Christine Czernejewski, spokesperson for The Independent Media Council (IMC), told Newsmax.
The IMC represents a coalition of conservative and independent media groups opposed to censorship practices, including Newsmax.
“The FTC says the ad agencies engaged in criminal activity, but they only get a slap on the wrist and a promotion to a titanic $13 billion merger,” Czernejewski said, “It doesn’t add up.”
The FTC’s consent decree does not explicitly mention NewsGuard or ban ad agencies from using media monitors like NewsGuard.
NewsGuard claims it does not create boycott or exclusion lists and does not rate media outlets on based political views. Their claims have been disputed by multiple critics.
NewsGuard was founded in 2018 by longtime Democratic Party activist and businessman Steve Brill.
Its rating services have long been criticized as highly political. In three separate annual studies the Media Research Center found that NewsGuard ranked liberal media outlets with significantly higher ratings than conservative outlets.
Ad agencies like Omnicom and IPG have used such ratings to deny conservative media advertising placements and revenue.
To ensure FTC compliance, Omnicom must submit annual reports for five years, detailing measures taken to adhere to the decree, including any client-directed exclusion lists based on political ideology.
The FTC declined to respond to Newsmax’s questions related to NewsGuard and the IPG-Omnicom merger, which is expected to become effective before the end of the year.
Paul Bond has been a journalist for three decades covering media, entertainment, and politics. His work has primarily appeared in Newsweek, USA Today, Reuters, and The Hollywood Reporter.
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