Editorial Advertising Discredits MT & DT

pogo, 18.08.2006 06:20

A full-page advertisement disguised as real news gets published on the day of a critical city council decision. Titled "Mt. Ashland: The True Story" this one-sided narrative is a product of Mt. Ashland PR department and not the Mail Tribune or Daily Tidings news dept.

The Whole Truth

There can be no denying that the ad is designed to look like a real news piece. The font is similar to the news font, and with no clues to the origin or authors. It is the duty of the newspaper to avoid misleading their reader by making it clear what is a paid advertisement. The usual industry practice is to set "PAID ADVERTISEMENT" across the top in larger print and refuse such ads that may confuse the readers. However, corporate profits are way down this quarter and advertising managers are hungry for sales.

Download this article in pdf format >>

Add this article to your pdf newsletter selection >>

Checkout and Download your PDF-newsletter selection >>

Email this article to someone >>

Make a quick comment on this article >>

A form of lying 17.08.2006 - 13:06 Pogo, Thanks for pointing this out. This is trickery. Its a form of deception that is unbecoming to a newspaper that just received a coveted award for being the best small newspaper in the state of Oregon (ashland daily tidings). Unfortunately it is also fast becoming a standard for journalism in this country. At a time when the white house pays journalists to run their slanted stories and a time when the mainstream seemingly has no boundaries or ethics...this discrepancy that you point out is more business as usual and it is a sad, sad state of affairs. Lies lead to a controlled populace that votes based on misconceptions. The very worst part is that our mainstream media is not held to standards and that lying to its readership is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution. Its the truth. Lying to the public is protected speech! Think about this and it comes into a clearer perspective. It is NOT a newspaper's job to report truth. It is the mission of a newspaper to deliver dividends to shareholders. That is job number one and anyone who differs is lying (a protected free speech). Newspapers deliver readers to advertisers. That equals money coming in and supports this mission of making bucks for shareholders. THEY DON'T DELIVER THE NEWS, THEY SELL IT! media watch dawg> And the difference is???? 20.08.2006 - 16:06 It's funny that when the lies and mis-leading information come from the liberal/green/preservationist it is OK to let the general populance read and believe, but if it goes against the wishes of the vocal minority then it is unacceptable and should be cleansed from the view of the public. What in the article is untrue? Chane Sau> Paid content is not news. 24.08.2006 - 19:56 It is unethical to publish editorials and advertisements as news. Regardless of the content, the newspaper has a duty to the community to educate and inform, not to mislead. Most major newspapers have clear editorial policies and procedures for handling paid advertising. Although the Tidings and Tribune "reserves the right" to edit ad content that may be mistaken for editorial material, it is clear that in this case, they did not. pogo> Still no answer 27.08.2006 - 12:10 Pogo, You still have not stated what was not true in the article. Did they print blatant lies? Apparenty not..... Chane Sau> The question remains.. 14.09.2006 - 15:31 What was not true in the article? Show me a paper that doesn't present the facts in the slant of the writer of the article. The "FACT" is that there was nothing false printed, but the article wasn't in your mindset so there for it was wrong. There have been several articles regarding protests and timber sales that were slanted to the left, I don't recall any uprising regarding those articles, in many cases there have been statements containing flat out lies printed in a manner that leads the reader to think that it is a true statement. One of the classics was when the former President of Umpqua Watersheds was quoted by the News Review in Roseburg and the Register Guard in Eugene as saying that "700 year old trees are being cut" on a sale in the Umpqua National Forest. After he was publicly called a liar there was a ground truthing set up and through the blockage of protesters sitting in their own crap the joint group of timber industry, USFS, and UW reps went to measure the trees. The truth was there were NO 700 or even 500 year old trees in the sale, and for some reason the papers either didn't print the findings or it was on a page in the classifieds.... Chane Sau>