The Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, site of the 2016 Republican National Convention. Image source: Wikipedia
So much for the wall between editorial coverage and advertising. Several news outlets are selling special services at the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer. Political news outlets including Politico, The Economist and The Atlantic are offering various editorial services for fees, according to The Intercept.
Should PR take advantage of these offers? Most PR veterans will likely say “no.
“Stay away from these offers lest you be tainted by the staggering ethics challenges they present,” writes Shel Holtz, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. “While these practices are clear indications of the struggles publications are having generating revenues, tearing down the earned-paid wall is beyond troubling.”
Editorial staff at The Hill will interview up to three representatives from an organization and other services in return for $200,000. Its brochure calls the interviews earned media and promises to host them on a dedicated page on its TheHill.com website and to promote them on its digital and social media channels.
Publicity for Your CEO
The Economist and its CQ Roll Call subsidiary offer sponsorship packages that include breakfasts and receptions with its top policy experts. The meetings will be live-streamed to increase reach. Its website says the meals are good for “organizations that want a convention presence without breaking the bank.” Sponsoring a meal is also good for “getting your CEO publicity — we’ll film an interview segment after event concludes,” it states.
At both conventions, Politico will hold “Caucus Energy Conversation” sponsored by Vote4Energy.org, an election effort of the oil industry. Politico will also hold a discussion on the economy, sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Institute, which advocates cuts to Medicare and Social Security, The Intercept says.
Vote4Energy is also sponsoring The Atlantic’s “cocktail caucus” during the Democratic convention about energy and environmental topics.
Sponsorship Offers Set off Alarm Bells
Not surprisingly, PR pros and other media watchers expressed alarm at the blurring lines, or perhaps even merging, between journalism and advertising.
“My impression is that paying for journalistically greased access to bigwigs is now routine,” Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University, told the Intercept. “Journalists should be covering conventions. Selling access to their leadership strikes me as an invitation to corruption.”
“There are a lot of ethical red flags here,” says Jim Naureckas, editor of the journalism watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Naureckas notes that for The Hill to refer “to the interviews as ‘earned media’ — that is, as opposed to advertising — raises the question of whether these advertorials will even be distinguished from news coverage in the fine print. If so, The Hill is operating as a straight-up PR agency.”
Bottom Line: Several political media outlets are blurring the lines of paid and earned media with their advertising packages for political conventions. While many businesses and lobby groups will accept the offers, conscientious PR pros will avoid them.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
