SALEM – Conservative-leaning Brainstorm NW magazine didn’t surprise many political observers when it endorsed Republican Ron Saxton for governor in its October issue.

But the Lake Oswego-based monthly raised some eyebrows when it paid to include that glossy six-page endorsement as an advertising insert inside two Oregon daily newspapers, distributing roughly 30,000 copies in The Bulletin in Bend and 100,000 in suburban editions of The Oregonian in Portland.

The circular spawned an election complaint this week from the re-election campaign of Gov. Ted Kulongoski, which said Brainstorm NW should have reported the cost as an independent political expenditure.

”This is not simply Brainstorm publishing an editorial in its magazine,” said Christopher L. Garrett, a Portland election law attorney who filed the complaint for the Kulongoski campaign.

”It is about making an additional expenditure to have its magazine placed inside other newspapers and circulated more widely for the purpose of promoting a candidacy.”

Newspapers and other media organizations frequently make political stands through editorial page endorsements, but those traditionally are not seen as contributions with financial value to campaigns, candidates or causes.

Depending on how state officials rule, this week’s complaint could have First Amendment implications because it could affect the wide latitude now offered to media organizations to freely distribute and broadcast opinions about political matters.

Bridget Barton, the editor and registered corporate agent of Brainstorm NW, said the magazine – for the first time in its six-year history – opted to pay to insert its endorsement to widen its editorial reach beyond its 25,000 circulation. Brainstorm NW is a mail-subscription magazine that covers politics and lifestyle.

She did not say how much the magazine paid the two newspapers.

”We were just reaching into where we feel our demographic niche is for a variety of purposes, including our own self-promotion and where we wanted to reach with our endorsement,” she said.

The magazine was careful to follow a state exemption that says a media organization can distribute its content through any media channel, and it is not considered a political gift, she said.

If the state determines that Brainstorm NW must somehow report the cost of including the insert in the newspapers, Barton said it could have repercussions for any news outfit that endorses candidates or causes.

”If it goes against us, it could be very bad for newspapers,” she said.

The complaint is directed at Brainstorm NW, not at the newspapers that distributed its endorsement piece.

In addition to urging voters to support Saxton, the circular also included a photo essay called ”The Growing Public-Private Gap,” with pictures of gleaming government buildings and a public employee union office, juxtaposed with images of dilapidated houses and businesses.

Both of the newspapers in which the circular was enclosed had already endorsed Saxton for governor. The state will seek a reply from Brainstorm NW before sorting out the case to determine whether the insert was news or a campaign advertisement, said Jennifer Hertel with the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division.

Companies, political committees and individuals who spend at least $100 on behalf of a candidate or measure, without coordinating the expenditure with the beneficiary, are required to submit a report at the next posted campaign finance disclosure deadline.

For instance, as of Oct. 26, Consumers Union of US, Inc. in San Francisco reported spending $11,400 to help pass Measure 42 in Oregon – but none of that money was given to the campaign.

That ballot measure would forbid insurers from using credit scores when setting rates.

If entities make independent expenditures but fail to properly report, they face fines worth 1 percent of the amount spent, multiplied by the number of days the report is late.

The state’s ruling in the Brainstorm NW complaint could help define the limits of ORS 260.007, which says media outlets do not need to report an independent political expense for ”any written news story, commentary or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine or other regularly published publication.”

The law does not say a media outlet must report an independent contribution if it distributes its content via another company.

However, Garrett said a media organization that goes beyond its normal scope specifically to help a candidate should be required to report the cost.

He draws a parallel of a newspaper, in addition to publishing its endorsements, buying a television ad to help tout its endorsement.

The complaint does not contest the right of a person or news business to publish or place an advertisement, even in somebody else’s product, he said.

But voters deserve to know the cost and who is paying when that activity does not match a company’s normal behavior and clearly aids a particular candidate, he said.

Still, it would break new ground to include media under rules governing independent expenditures – and especially if endorsements are even obliquely defined as contributions of reportable value, said Tim Gleason, the dean of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.

”It raises for me some constitutional questions about free speech if I’m a publisher and I’m publishing my view and I want to distribute it,” he said.

”I’m certain it raises issues of editorial autonomy, because there is a right of a publication to distribute itself as it sees fit.”

Felix Schein, Saxton’s campaign manager, said he was unaware of the complaint and had no comment, except to note that the campaign did not collaborate with Brainstorm NW.

Anna Richter Taylor, spokeswoman for the Kulongoski campaign, said the complaint in no way is an attempt to put a chill on the media or Brainstorm NW.

If any other person spends money to help a political candidate, they must report it, she said.

This is the second Oregon election complaint this fall that involves a media organization. In September, Pacific Green Party candidate Joe Keating said Kulongoski and Saxton should be forced to declare their invitations and participation in a debate sponsored by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association as contributions of value. Keating was not invited to the event.

In an advice letter, elections staff said the two appearances did not have reportable value, because the attending media representatives used the debate to inform coverage that would appear in their news products, Hertel said.