Corporate News: Old practices, new problems, and ethical concerns along the way

Ryan Spellman

rs344103@ohio.edu

 

Historical Practices and Problems

Corporations generating their own news is not a new phenomena. In an article for the Financial Times, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson shares a few relics that put this old practice into perspective:

Image Credit: Contently

1895: John Deere publishes first The Furrow Magazine

1900: Michelin Releases the Guide for Drivers

1909: Hershey Press is first published in Hershey Pennsylvania

John Deere’s Furrow Magazine and Michelin’s Guide for Drivers are very early examples of a strategy called content marketing – a practice focused on delivering useful content that draws in readers while promoting engagement with their product. Such content marketing strategies can be deceptive, especially if it is not apparent to the customer that the content is generated for a means to an end (in this case the benefit of the corporation). If the consumer is lulled into assuming it is a source of independent, not corporate-owned, information then there is a major conflict of interest when bias against competitors seeps in.

In the case of Hershey Press, we have an early example of a corporation literally delivering the news. Just a quick glimpse at an archive of the publication reveals it was clearly released in a newspaper format that makes it hard to discern its corporate roots (given that the corporation shares the city’s namesake). Bias is difficult enough to overcome in traditional, independently-owned newsrooms. A paper owned by the area’s top industry is most certainly going to be riddled with conflicts of interest.

So, as we can see, corporate news issues are long running and nothing new… and these problems certainly have not gone away. However, with the changing media landscape there are concerns presenting new ethical concerns that extend from the PR sphere into the domain of traditional journalism.

 

The Line Blurs: PR Enters the News Unchecked

"Remember that neither speed nor format excuses inaccuracy." -SPJ Code of Ethics

Edgecliffe-Johnson brings an interesting conundrum to light in his article covering the now blurry line between PR and journalism. PR professionals are beginning to circumvent journalists, getting their content published directly into news sources with little effort. There was a time when PR professionals regularly sent press releases in hopes of getting their content published. Now, according to Edgecliffe-Johnson, news outlets are gobbling up corporate generated PR news from their social media content. This ultimately validates what corporations are saying, often unchecked. Edgecliffe-Jones shares this is in large part due to pressure to keep up an around-the-clock information and multimedia engagement with their audiences.

It is easy to imagine the challenge of producing new content in such a fast-paced media world. Newsworthy product innovations from cars to energy drinks are relentless. With PR coming out in such professional, multi-modal ways it would be very tempting to just take it wholesale and push it out as news. 

Free, well-produced content that your audience wants to see. What’s not to like?!

Well, there is a hang up there. As SPJ reminds us, speed and format do not excuse inaccuracy. Newsrooms must fact check information, and avoid pushing out corporate-driven PR as news without disclosure -- no matter the deadline or demands. Even if the story seems inconsequential, it can be a slippery slope and build bad habits.

This sacrifice of unbiased journalistic coverage for quick and easy PR-to-news content is a major concern. Not only is there potential for an appearance of bias, doing so also risks validating false statements rooted in efforts to benefit corporations. This is especially true in an age when it is becoming difficult for the consumer to distinguish between what is actual news and what is corporate driven stories... but that is a whole topic unto itself.