(Boston, MA) – The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (“NACA”) placed a full-page advertisement concerning Fleet Banks Fees that was to be run on Monday April 17th. This ad addresses the concerns of hundreds of thousands of New England residents over Fleet Bank’s imposition of fees on the residents of New England.
The ad was submitted on Monday April 10th and after revisions required by The Boston Globe, it was approved by The Boston Globe management on Friday, April 14th. Late Friday NACA was contacted and informed that they were pulling the ad.
They stated that they “passed the ad by Fleet who had raised concerns.” The Globe refused to allow NACA to respond to the issues. People throughout the media are outraged that private advertisements are submitted to the opponents of the issues expressed therein and their one-sided response is given veto power.
“This is absolute censorship”, states Bruce Marks, NACA CEO. “It is clear that Fleet uses its absolute dominant position and the $2 million in Globe advertising to crush a $25,000 advertisement that Globe staff and hundreds of thousands of New England residents know is correct. This double standard is clearly demonstrated when Fleet is able to place an advertisement. When Fleet placed a full-page ad in The Boston Globe titled “Setting the Record Straight” concerning their involvement in the second mortgage scam, it was never submitted to organizations that knew that it was not accurate.”
Fleet Bank needs to be held accountable. Their monopolistic power not only affects the fees and services available to New England’s working people, but the full information people need to make independent decisions.