Branded Content and Native Advertising. Is it Eroding the Fundamentals of Journalism ?

Kiah Easton

Kiaheaston1999@gmail.com

 

Within the last 25 years, Journalism, and information in general, has seen rapid expansion and increased accessibility across the board. My grandparents and even parents have had to pay for news to be physically shipped to their doorstep. I on the other hand, and many in my age group (21) have rarely if ever had to pay for news or information. Not only is information today largely free but we never wait for it, it's accessible at the click of a button, literally. 

 

Picture source: PKA Marketing

How is news and information so accessible today? How does it get paid for? A large part of the answer to that question is advertisements. Selling space for advertisements either in print or digital publications allows Journalists to be paid and continue to create and spread content to readers at no direct cost. The indirect cost however is our immersion into a world with advertisements that try and persuade and manipulate our buying habits at every turn.

Branded Content and Native Advertising presents a particularly interesting ethical dilemma in terms of transparency in Journalism. Branded Content, as defined by CyberClick, as " allowing consumers to make the connection with the brand," as well as allowing the advertisement to slip through ad blockers and readers general built-up tolerance. Native Advertisement is slightly different in that it is an advertisement that is not necessarily telling a story but is camouflaged into other content on the website through a matching of form and style.

According to WNIP "research says native advertising currently generates 18% of overall advertising revenues, and publishers expect it will reach 32% by 2020." Some claim native advertisement and branded content could be the savior of journalism because it something that social media advertisement cant compete with. These types of advertisements may be crucial to journalism but are they ethical? Can they be ethical?

With money becoming increasingly tied to content due to story based advertisement like this, the ethical dilemma of independence, transparency, and truth is important to examine. Can you trust information a company is paying to be writer? Even more importantly, can readers always differentiate between paid and unpaid content. Like most questions, it depends. 

Trust for Journalism low around the world, part of that without a doubt comes from unclear/ undisclosed sponsorships. In order to continue to incorporate advertisement further into the world of editorial content, a more cohesive and standardized set of rules for sponsored content needs to be created. Advertisement is a necessary part of Journalism and therefore developing stricter sets of rules has the potential to save the Journalistic craft from changing forever. Disclosing money involved in a standardized way would allow branded content to be transparent and therefore potentially valuable to both readers and publications. Creating firm and clear rules isn't easy though. Especially when considering how to enforce it.

As pointed out by David Lazarus of the L.A. Times however, "federal regulators can’t police the entire Internet. Experts say it’s highly likely that many sites and blogs will ignore the FTC’s rules in hopes of making more money." Like crime in any other industry, deceptive sponsored content will never go away entirely and therefore regulations cant be the only thing set in place to protect readers. As has been a common theme in issues of navigating the world of journalistic integrity, there also needs to be increased awareness and media literacy. If readers are more cognizant and informed about advertisement they will have an easier time analyzing content while still getting "real" news for free.

On the other side of the coin, although branded content can create ethical issues, It also, if written and displayed correctly, can provide real beneficial information to the consumer. Well put by Acts of Journalism, "If properly presented and identified, it can be a useful addition to specific audiences, generate revenues for news media in general and even reinforce the value of real news."

Its safe to say advertisements immersion into the world of journalism will not stop anytime soon. Rather than fight it, journalists and readers need to work to regulate and more analytically understand advertising content in order to protect the integrity of information.