U.S. putting census ads in Twin Cities ethnic media

About 50 media outlets in Minnesota will receive some of the $140 million the U.S. Census Bureau is spending on advertising for the decennial count.

The Bureau posted the outlets they've contracted with on its website Tuesday. The "ad buys" include about a dozen Minnesota radio stations, and about three dozen newspapers across the state.

Steve Wetzler is president of TCB Marketing, which handles advertising for many ethnic media outlets in the Twin Cities.

He says papers that service the state's largest ethnic groups -- African and African American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian -- will get ads. But he says census officials didn't put ads in enough of the Asian American press.

"They're getting great visibility in the Hmong Times and Hmong Today. But the Hmong make up about half the Asian population in Minnesota, so they're missing out on the other half by not being in the Asian Pages," Wetzler said.

Census officials say the advertising list is not yet complete. They say the average person will see a census ad about 40 times before census forms are mailed in March.