AARP Responds To Progressive Bloggers' Advertising Complaints

There's been a recent debate in the blogosphere about who - or more importantly, who's not - advertising on various political blogs. AARP is a non-partisan organization that strongly supports all reaches of the online community and values the contribution of the millions of Americans who use blogs to share information and to express their views.
AARP has a robust online presence, with a vibrant online community, an active blog and daily online news source for 50+ America, Bulletin Today.
Because we understand the influence and reach of online communities we have worked with BlogAds, an important resource for marketers targeting blog communities, on targeted ad campaigns over the last year. On May 4, 2007, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas stated that, "...Blogads has been perhaps the single most important component to the rise of the liberal blogosphere. And it will continue to play a huge role as we grow in years ahead." Thanks to BlogAds, AARP ads have been made available to the likes of Daily Kos, Wonkette, Atrios, Talking Points Memo, Americablog, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, Political Wire, Red State, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, Townhall and others.
Our ongoing commitment to supporting and participating in the online community means that we intend to continue working with bloggers and to support the growth of this community.
As publishers of the world's largest magazine and the preeminent online destination for individuals 50+, we understand the desire to pursue advertising revenue. Additionally, no one is immune from our current economic crisis and we can appreciate your plea for increased ad revenue. That said, we also strongly honor the integrity of our journalists and writers/editors/content developers. AARP would never allow advertisers to dictate our editorial content based on the amount of ad space purchased, and we would be hesitant to buy ads with any media that suggested it might act otherwise.
- Andrew Nannis, Director of Media Relations for AARP