	Background

		Congressional Authorization and Funding of the Media Campaign

The Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998, 21 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.,  required the Office of National Drug Control Policy to conduct a national  media campaign to reduce and prevent drug abuse among America’s  youth. Congress has appropriated over $1 billion for ONDCP’s media campaign  since it was initiated in 1998. This phase also involves measuring the effectiveness of  specific advertisements over time within target audiences. The media  campaign also used a contractor to provide assistance with public  communications and outreach for the campaign, for example, encouraging  the entertainment industry to portray the negative consequences of drug  use in movies and television. These contractors used funds from  their contracts to secure additional specialized expertise from  subcontractors. Prime Contractors and Their Subcontractors Provided Three Broad Categories of Services, but Most of the Estimated Award Dollars Were Committed to Purchasing Media Time and Space

During fiscal years 2002 through 2004, the four major prime contractors  were responsible for a variety of services that generally fall into three  broad categories—advertising, public communications and outreach, and  evaluation. According to our analysis, an estimated $520 million was  awarded to the prime contractors, of which an estimated $373 million—72  percent—was committed to purchasing media time and space for  advertisements. The remaining $147 million—28 percent—was for the  services provided by the prime contractors. Although the senate committee report  that mandated our review did not define the term “consultants,” through  our consultations and its previous hearings, the committee expressed  concerns about the use of contractors and their subcontractors for the  media campaign. Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

Our review of contractor services and contract award amounts associated  with the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) National Youth  Anti-Drug Media Campaign covered fiscal years 2002 through 2004. To describe the services provided by contractors and their subcontractors  in support of the media campaign, we analyzed the contracts of the four  prime contractors and the subcontracts of the 102 subcontractors. The second phase involves ad creation and qualitative and quantitative  research.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was required by the Drug Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 (21 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) to conduct a national media campaign to reduce and prevent drug use among America's youth. Since 1998, Congress has appropriated over $1 billion for the media campaign. However, a 2003 report by the Senate Committee on Appropriations expressed some concerns about the media campaign, including concern that a large portion of the campaign's budget had been used for consulting services rather than the direct purchase of media time and space. The report, therefore, directed GAO to review the use of consultants to support the media campaign. This report describes the services provided by consultants (defined by GAO as the prime contractors and their subcontractors) in support of the media campaign, along with the estimated award amounts for these services.

What GAO Found

Our analysis of contracts covering ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign from fiscal years 2002 through 2004 revealed that four contractors provided many of the services required to execute the campaign. These four prime contractors provided an array of services that fell within three broad categories: (1) advertising, (2) public communications and outreach, and (3) evaluation services to gauge the campaign's effectiveness. The prime contractors also acquired additional specialized expertise from 102 subcontractors. Some of the specific tasks performed by the contractors and their subcontractors included conducting qualitative and quantitative research for advertising creation, working with the entertainment industry to portray the negative consequences of drug use in television and movies, and conducting an evaluation intended to measure the effectiveness of the media campaign. Based on our analysis of contracts covering fiscal years 2002 through 2004, we estimated that $520 million was awarded to the four prime contractors, of which an estimated $373 million--72 percent--was committed to purchasing media time and space for campaign advertisements. The remaining $147 million--28 percent--was for the services provided by the prime contractors. Contractors, in turn, awarded $14 million of that amount to their subcontractors.