Advertorials and journalism-for-hire

We have often highlighted the notoriety of the mainstream Malaysian newspapers for serving as a mouthpiece of the BN government. As sickening as their lack of editorial independence or integrity has been, it is, unfortunately, only half the story. Just as sickening is the other half that sees them very much at the beck and call of advertisers as well.

Many of us might be thrilled to find the newspaper is a bit bulkier, heavier when we pick it up every morning. A worthy buy, we may think, as we look forward to more news for the RM1.20 we pay for it. But when we open up the paper we quickly notice that the bulkiness is largely due to advertisements.

There are the conventional ads in the form of classified or display ads (of varying sizes, e.g. full or half page). There are also the advertorials, though only sometimes mentioned when used. No doubt, these types of ads routinely take up a good amount of newsprint.

But as though all that is not enough to fatten their corporate bottom line, the papers have also insidiously engaged in another form of advertising. This comes in the form of ads that masquerade as editorial content, but the papers could not be bothered to clarify. Rather, they appear eager to make available their journalists for hire to advertisers.

Such ads often appear in the paper’s special pull-out sections that are available just about every day. These sections may promote beauty products, fashion, health supplements, private colleges or universities, hi-fi sets, or just about any commodity in the global market economy today. Among the English dailies, The Star clearly leads in this kind of journalism-for-hire business.

Buy one ad, get one write-up?

Consider then a typical example of such an ethically bankrupt practice.

It is a pull-out section published on 28 June by The Star, and was proudly titled Starspecial instead of, more accurately, Advertorials. The 16-page section offered 15 ‘articles’ – these were actually write-ups of products related to the themes of parenting and observing a healthy lifestyle.

Twelve of the write-ups carried content solely on the specific commodities featured. They couldn’t even be considered public relations pieces even though whatever distinction between PR writing and ads has become increasingly blurred in this day and age of hyper-commercialism.

All 12 write-ups directly promote the specific commodities (whereas public relations conventionally focuses more on the image of an institution or corporation to create public goodwill). No bylines were given although the 12 write-ups were generated by the staff of the paper. On closer inspection, it is clear that the display ads in the pullout section are related to some of the write-ups. It is almost as though the paper has offered a free (or otherwise) write up for advertisers who bought advertising space in the pullout.

These write-ups are another form of advertorials and are thus ads just the same – not unlike the 18 display ads that were also splashed throughout the Starspecial section. There simply is no excuse for The Star not to label the 12 write-ups as advertorials.

The remaining three of the 15 write-ups came with bylines and a statement to the fact that they were presented as a courtesy of the specific advertisers. This is much better than the other 12 write-ups as it attempted to make clear the involvement of the advertisers. Interestingly, the three write-ups do not promote the particular product or advertiser as blatantly as the other 12 write-ups. (Well, how low can the staff of The Star get for promoting the commodities even more zealously than people connected with the advertisers themselves?) Nonetheless, the three more subtle write-ups on the products were still ads and therefore it should have been stated clearly that they were ads.

Forget journalistic integrity?

Granted, as private businesses, the newspapers need advertising revenue to be able to function. But the above collaboration between media and advertisers shows something unhealthy is at work. The advertisers are having the papers at their beck and call. And the papers do not appear to have the self respect for their own editorial content; instead, they seem eager to make available their journalists for hire.

Such a development shows that the papers are not merely depending on advertising revenue to function. After all, it is hard to imagine papers like The Star running short of revenue from carrying classified ads, display ads and even advertorials. What is happening, instead, indicates the papers are more interested in fattening their corporate bottom line. They are consumed by greed. Forget journalistic integrity or ethics. Which also means forget the readers too.

Now and then the media have reported on how the public was duped by advertisers. Well, can we really blame them when newspapers themselves are eager to bend over backwards for advertisers by having ads masquerading as news information?

We also wonder about the newspaper journalists. Do they not have a set of professional values or ethos so that they can use it to defend their editorial integrity to the people in suits or are they only interested in pursuing an ever-fatter bottom line? Is the power so heavily tipped against them that they risk being sacked should they go against corporate greed? Or are the journalists themselves just as eager to get into this ethically bankrupt business of journalism-for-hire?