Online news organizations “critically need” to implement strong and consistent guidelines governing sponsored content, says a new discussion paper issued by the Canadian Association of Journalists’ (CAJ) Ethics Advisory Committee.
The committee says it is presenting the information as a discussion paper rather than a formal report because it considers it “inappropriate” to provide ethical guidelines or best practices on sponsored content.
It says drafting such guidelines could result in further confusion about the lines between advertising and editorial. “In our opinion, sponsored content is not journalism, and is therefore beyond our purview,” says the paper.
The CAJ paper says the practice of sponsored content has grown rapidly in recent years. It cites a 2013 report from Digital Content Next – a U.S. organization representing major online publishers – which found 73% of its members now offer some form of this type of advertising.
The paper says the rise of sponsored content coincides with publishers’ need to find new revenue streams, and the value brands see in this type of content.
However, the CAJ paper calls it a “high-stakes survival strategy,” particularly as publishers increasingly rely on freelancers who are moving back and forth between the worlds of editorial and sponsored content.
The paper points out these writers and editors might at some point be required to provide objective coverage of a company or brand for which they have previously created sponsored content.
It says sponsored content derives its cachet from the credibility of the writers and publishers, citing research by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealing consumers look at branded content more often than banner ads, and spend as much time with it as they do editorial content.
The paper cites IAB research revealing publication on a respected news site can produce a 33% increase in perceived credibility of sponsored content. “It is because of the confusion, and the data that suggests users do not differentiate between journalism and this content, that news organizations critically need to create strong and consistent guidelines to separate this content from [their] journalism,” the paper says.
The paper identifies three types of sponsored content:
The underwriting model
A model that preserves the most editorial independence, with a brand sponsoring a regular editorial feature and paying simply to have its name associated with the content. Examples include The Globe and Mail’s “Mattresses by mail? Canadian start-up joins the memory-foam party,” which was part of the national daily’s ongoing feature The Challenge, developed in association with Telus.
The agency model
A model in which a publisher employs editorial specialists to create custom content in partnership with a brand. Examples include Buzzfeed Canada’s “If classic movie tropes were motivational posters,” which is bylined by Scotiabank under a sub-head promoting the financial institution’s Scene debut card.
The platform model
A publisher provides a dedicated space for brands to create their own messages using their own name, with the publisher having little or no direct involvement. Examples include the Toronto Star’s “Experiential learning: preparing students for success” — an ad promoting York University, which appeared on July 13 under the banner “Partner content.”
The CAJ paper acknowledges news and advertising have co-existed for decades, saying an argument could be made that the introduction of sponsored content has not fundamentally changed that model except for the degree to which advertising and news copy are integrated in both form and content.
It says the so-called church and state division has historically been managed by a “philosophical – and sometimes literal – firewall” separating the needs and interests of the two divisions. However, it concludes the “wall” between the two has been “more porous” than has been acknowledged.
“Proponents of sponsored content argue that it is a more honest and less deceptive approach to the relationship between advertising and news than the traditional firewall,” says the paper. “It is built on the premise that an impervious firewall between advertising and editorial does not in fact exist.”
The paper says sponsored content raises two key ethical issues: Deception and conflict of interest.
It says sponsored content derives its value from its association – and sometimes confusion – with editorial content, and claims there is evidence that readers do not see labels such as “presented by” and do not understand the meaning of phrases like “sponsored content.”
“The value of sponsored content arguably depends on its ability to be mistaken for journalism content,” says the paper. “This is deception.” The paper says this deception can extend to self-deception on the part of journalists and their employers.
It also says it is unlikely journalists and news organization can serve two masters at the same time. It creates a dilemma, for example, if a writer covering the real estate industry is involved in creating sponsored content for a development and then has to dispassionately cover the developer’s application for a land use change.
