.jpg)
"Prairie dog's editorial content is independent and is not for sale under any circumstances. We write what we like, and our readers like it that way."
—From prairie dog's masthead
The organizer of an upcoming event contacted recently to lobby for an article on it. The event—I’m not going to say what it is — sounded sort of interesting and I was fairly keen to cover it, depending on available print space and having an interested writer. Then I got an e-mail from this individual telling me they were buying an ad in our paper — but it was conditional on us writing about their event.
Here's an excerpt: "In exchange for the article, [our organization] would like to purchase a 1/4 page ad. Please have the writer contact me ASAP so that I can meet with him or her [for an interview]."
I sent the organization an e-mail explaining that we don’t trade editorial coverage for advertising. But in a subsequent e-mail to our publisher, this person repeated their demand: "We will be pleased to submit an ad for the issue if there is going to be an article about [our organization].” In other words, this person won’t advertise in prairie dog unless we write about his/her event. Which one might be inclined to call “extortion.”
Long story short, I’m not commissioning an article because we don’t publish a “you grease my back, I’ll rub yours” magazine and I resent the suggestion that we do.
And I assume there won’t be an ad either. But hey, maybe I’ll be surprised.
Advertising is one thing. Stealth advertorials are another. Stealth advertorials are bad business because readers can tell the difference between advertising and editorial content and if they feel you’re trying to fool them with an ad disguised as an article, well, you’ve probably lost a reader.
Hey businesses, want an advertorial? No problem! Buy a decent-size ad from a friendly p-dog sales rep and put a bunch of words in it about your product/event. It will have to be labeled "advertisement" so our readers don’t confuse it with actual content, and it’ll have to use a different design template than our articles — but aside from that, pretty much anything goes.
Editorial and advertising need to remain separate. If you’re mixing them you’re not publishing a newspaper, you’re publishing a catalogue.
I sent the organization an e-mail explaining that we don’t trade editorial coverage for advertising. But in a subsequent e-mail to our publisher, this person repeated their demand: "We will be pleased to submit an ad for the issue if there is going to be an article about [our organization].” In other words, this person won’t advertise in prairie dog unless we write about his/her event. Which one might be inclined to call “extortion.”
Long story short, I’m not commissioning an article because we don’t publish a “you grease my back, I’ll rub yours” magazine and I resent the suggestion that we do.
And I assume there won’t be an ad either. But hey, maybe I’ll be surprised.
Advertising is one thing. Stealth advertorials are another. Stealth advertorials are bad business because readers can tell the difference between advertising and editorial content and if they feel you’re trying to fool them with an ad disguised as an article, well, you’ve probably lost a reader.
Hey businesses, want an advertorial? No problem! Buy a decent-size ad from a friendly p-dog sales rep and put a bunch of words in it about your product/event. It will have to be labeled "advertisement" so our readers don’t confuse it with actual content, and it’ll have to use a different design template than our articles — but aside from that, pretty much anything goes.
Editorial and advertising need to remain separate. If you’re mixing them you’re not publishing a newspaper, you’re publishing a catalogue.
.jpg)
1 comment:
wow man, you did it! you do have stones!
i forgot to mention the last time i was in regina that i've been trying to organize an interesting event -- the football club from winnipeg comes to regina and, well, heck, ok, nobody would pay to see that . . .
Post a Comment