The U.S. Census Bureau has embarked on its largest marketing campaign ever to educate and encourage participation in the constitutionally mandated tally of U.S. population.

The first phase of the campaign was announced Jan. 14. The federal government launched a $133 million advertising campaign with investments in print, TV, radio, outdoor and the Internet. According to published reports, as much as $300 million total could be spent on census advertising through the year to encourage U.S. residents to participate in the once-a-decade count of the nation's people.

"All media is going to be involved in the buy," said Pamela Page-Bellis, a regional senior media specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau. "Phase one has been purchased, and that campaign start(ed) on Jan. 17. Regional offices have nothing to do with [the campaign]. It's a national campaign, and the Census Bureau has contracted with national agencies to do this. There are additional funds that will be spent later, closer to April."

The campaign to encourage participation in the census goes well beyond paid advertising. The Census Bureau is encouraging newspapers to educate readers through editorial content too.

"We're hoping newspapers can write articles explaining the importance of the census - that it means power and money to every single person," Page-Bellis said. "There's $400 billion every year of federal funds that are allocated according to the census. It goes to roads, schools, hospitals and social services. If you don't get your fair share of money, you don't get your fair share of services."

The Census Bureau has a wide range of resources for reporters, editors and newspapers online at www.census.gov. In addition to information about the importance of the 2010 count, there are historical facts and photos of previous censuses and demographic information about individual communities from past counts and intervening estimates.

Information is also available about jobs with the Census bureau. "Right now, one of our messages is that we have a lot of jobs," Page-Bellis said. "Every one of our census offices hires at least a thousand people, and that's a lot of jobs in this economy. [People] need to get out right now and test for these jobs and get in the system so that when the jobs become available they'll be in line for them. Newspapers can print when and where we're doing the testing and when we're having job fairs." For that information, contact Page-Bellis at 941-429-0132 or pamela.m.page.bellis@census.gov.

Page-Bellis said the Census Bureau needs help from newspapers to educate people about its mission, the importance of an accurate count and myths that sometimes make people fearful of participating. She said the Census Bureau does not ask people about citizenship nor Social Security numbers and personal banking information. "If anyone asks for such personal data, a red flag should go up and they should ask the person for ID because it is not a census worker."

Of course, no one will have to talk with a census worker if they return the questionnaire that will be mailed to their homes in March. "Education is our primary goal. We hope [newspapers] can help with a call to action. If you fill out the form, it takes 10 minutes to answer 10 questions, but it affects the next 10 years of your life," Page-Bellis said.

Georgia is also making efforts on the state level to educate people about the census with its Complete Count Committee, a group of nearly 50 political and business leaders from throughout the state appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue to coordinate and promote the census. Publisher Robert M. Williams Jr. of The Blackshear Times is serving on the committee.

Information on this state effort can be found at www.census.georgia.gov. The resources at the site include a listing of local committees and their census activities.

Census resources online

www.census.gov

www.2010census.gov

Pamela Page-Bellis, regional senior media specialist, 941-429-0132, pamela.m.page.bellis@census.gov