LA Times: Ad or News Story?

The Los Angeles Times recently came under fire for putting an advertisement on its front cover that could have been mistaken for an actual news story.

According to the Times, the ad for the NBC drama “Southland” appeared in the left column, starting below the fold and above and beside a banner ad for the television show. The ad, which was labeled “advertisement” and carried the NBC peacock logo, was written from the perspective of a reporter on a ride-along with the show’s main character, a Los Angeles police officer.

With advertising revenue at all-time lows, newspapers are looking for innovative ways to recoup lost revenue. The publisher said that the ad did command a significantly higher rate than traditional ads but drew complaints from nearly 70 readers and objections from the newsroom and multiple editors.

So now advertisements are being confused with front-page news stories. (Sarcastic) Solution: remove the news stories from the front page and run full page ads to avoid confusion.

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