Agency-by-Agency Data and Analysis
NYS Department of Labor
The Department of Labor placed 29% ($144K) of the $497K in media buys we analyzed with community media outlets. Of the six agencies who gave us records, the DOL spent by far the most of any other agency on community media.
OpenBookNY data indicated that from FY2012 to FY2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) spent $1,052,073.26 for media placement services with OpAD, Outfront Media Group, Miller, Newsday, and HFT Management, Inc.
The DOL sent us responsive records consisting of invoices for ad campaign spending from OpAD, Outfront, Miller, Newsday, and HFT in 2020, 2022, and 2023. Because Outfront and HFT were for out-of-home (OOH) ads, we did not factor them into our analysis. The OpAD, Newsday and Miller invoices gave detailed info about the campaigns and outlet placement. The agency spent a total of $497K on radio, TV, newspaper, and digital ads to notify state workers of eligibility to receive Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) benefits and Excluded Workers Fund (EWF) benefits, and to publicize the state’s “Back to Work” campaign. The “Helping New Yorkers Get Back to Work” campaign was marketed via Miller through the ad-serving company GroundTruth.
The DOL’s TAA ads promoted a federal program meant to help “U.S. workers who have lost or may lose their jobs as a result of foreign trade.” These ads targeted workers of specific companies to inform them of their eligibility to receive trade act benefits. These benefits included: career counseling, paid training for a new job, financial support while training or looking for new employment, relocation for families, and wage subsidies for employees 50 and older with earnings gaps. All of these media placements were with Newsday and targeted workers or former workers of various companies that have or had addresses on Long Island, NY.
The third DOL campaign we analyzed focused on ads for the state’s EWF program, a $2 billion fund meant to grant financial relief to vital workers like street vendors, domestic workers, delivery drivers, and cooks, who were left out of other COVID-19-related benefits. Many of these media buys were traditional media ad buys with Spectrum Cable on local New York State TV stations in cities like Albany, Binghamton, New York City, Syracuse, and Elmira.
Of the six agencies we received responsive records from, DOL spent the most of any on ad buys with community media, 29% or $144K out of $497K. Their spending with traditional media came to 61% or $303K. DOL spent 0% on social media and tech company ad buys, and 10% or $50K with GroundTruth.
FIGURE 12
Ad Spending by Media Placement Category
NYS Department of Labor
Hover over the bars to see amounts and percentages for each category.
- ▬ Community media
- ▬ Traditional media
- ▬ Ad serving/targeting companies
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