I am still trying to get over the story in Monday’s (11/2) Wall Street Journal about how the Detroit Free Press collaborated with advertisers on story ideas and even the timing of when stories were published.
It is a time-honored tradition for newspapers to accept press releases and hard lobbying by the PR folks at companies, but to work hand-in-hand makes the wall between the newsroom and the business side of the paper way too thin. Let’s be sure we keep news decisions completely independent, even as we worry about revenue.
Although I do agree that the newsies at today’s newspapers need to be a bit more savvy about how the paper makes money and to cooperate with advertisers in certain ways, I think you draw the line at allowing businesses to suggest not only what you write, but where and when you publish it.
According to the WSJ, the Freep allowed both Humana and Target to pretty much dictate some content and the placement and timing of stories, selecting the days they wanted stories to appear. This should be done based on news values, not advertiser desires. Or am I naive?
Paul Anger, editor and publisher, justified the actions with the equivalent of the new meaning of “hiking the Appalachian Trail.” He said: “One of the things I think newsrooms have to realize is we’re here to cover the news in an unvarnished way, but we’re also here to facilitate commerce.” Facilitate commerce? As in “I’m not selling my soul, I’m facilitating commerce“?
I can only hope that’s the Publisher talking and not the Editor. Probably a reason for one person not to hold both titles.
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