Advertising and journalism collide in Memphis
By Leah McBride Mensching, Thursday 18 October 2007 at 22:37 :: Advertising :: #726 :: rss
Advertising supports journalism – we all know that. But what happens when a specific advertiser is courted to sponsor a specific piece of journalism? Is it a viable new business model, or does the ad depreciate the value of the journalism it is meant to support?
A Memphis editor found out that things don't always work out in the best interest of journalism or advertising. Chris Peck, of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, told Editor & Publisher Thursday his paper found itself on “treacherous ground” when its advertising department pursued Federal Express to sponsor a six-part series titled “Memphis and the World,” set to run for six Sundays beginning in November.
A friend and fellow journalist e-mailed the E&P story to me, calling it “something so scary, it'll make you cringe and shudder at the same time.” And as a journalist, it did. But as someone who monitors the business side of newspapers each day, I was hardly surprised at the lengths some papers will go in an effort to make a buck, or in most cases these days, to just break even.
In the Commercial Appeal's case, the lines between the story and the advertiser became so blurred, the paper has opted to run the series as a special section without advertising.
“What we were trying to do is figure out some ways to build revenue and to craft a new kind of business model for journalism,” Peck told E&P. “We need to find ways for good journalism to be supported.”
In the past, the paper has linked specific advertisers to news coverage; for example, tying specific advertisers to a popular real estate column, “Done Deals,” and to the paper's Elvis Week editions. In those cases, the paper made clear to the advertisers that they “don't get editorial control or more mentions than anyone else,” Peck said.
“What we were trying to do is figure out some ways to build revenue and to craft a new kind of business model for journalism,” Peck told E&P. “We need to find ways for good journalism to be supported.”
But the “Memphis and the World” project didn't fit the new business model, causing concerns between advertising and editorial staff members, and even a petition against the idea. Peck defended past decisions to link related ads to articles, telling E&P this is common practice on entertainment pages around the world, giving the example of film reviews and advertisements running on the same pages.
And although he said sponsorships are likely to continue, they will not involve “high-end pieces of journalism.”
So the business model may not apply to all articles, but as print revenues continue to slide around the world and publishers look for new ways to stay afloat, will the means to pay for the news somehow become intertwined with it? Now that definitely makes me shudder.
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