This weekend, if you visited the Daily Dish, you were greeted with a video ad brought to you “from the Mercedes-Benz inspiration lounge at the Aspen Ideas Festival.” That probably tells you everything you need to know about the Aspen Ideas Festival. But it’s not as bad as this:
Each weekday morning, Politico sends out an e-mail digest of energy news. And it has been sponsored, since its launch in May, by America’s Natural Gas Alliance.
“One solution for more abundant domestic energy is staring us in the face. . . . Today, the U.S. has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil,” the blurb reads in part.
Is there a problem with one sponsor so heavily underwriting a journalistic product involving its industry?
“We don’t see any conflict at all,” says Kim Kingsley, a spokeswoman for Politico, which also offers tip sheets on such topics as technology (sponsored last week by Google), finances (GE Capital) and defense (EADS North America’s KC-45 tanker). “The newsroom produces the content for all of our morning products, and the sales side sells it.” She adds that “advertisers know they don’t buy any influence with Politico or any other media company when they buy an ad.” Some clients buy weeks at a time, but “no one can own a morning product indefinitely.”
tim
Didn’t there use to be site called, oh I don’t know…MEDIA WHORES ONLINE?
It was made redundant by Politico.
And naturally, Politico was sprung upon us in a massive tidal of wave of its inevitable presence everywhere. I remember all of a sudden I was noticing bobbleheads from Politico on all the DC gabfests, and thinking” what the hell is Politico, and why are these hosts acting like it’s been around for decades and introducing these characters as if they have established cred?
Media/government/military industrial complex.
[email protected]
I was about to say that these people are clueless, but I think that they know just what they are doing and choose to lie about it to the rubes.
I’m not sure who the rubes are however, could it be the Villagers who suck up their stories or the rest of us who read their broadsides? At anyrate there is certainly enough hypocracy to go around, I think.
Mumphrey
I think the worst thing about this is that they don’t even see that there’s a conflict of interest. I can’t understand how they could be so thickheaded that they don’t see that even if they go out of their way to not show any favor toward the gas industry or whoever else might be paying them, they still lose credibility in the readers’ eyes. I don’t know about anybody else, but now if I ever read Politico, which I don’t, but for the sake of argument, you know… So anyway, if I read Politico from now on, I’m going to ask myself what they aren’t telling me, or what they might be telling me that might not be altogether true. You’d think they’d care more than that, but I guess it’s only a way to make money for a lot of these people. Sad.
cleek
fuck Politico
Corner Stone
She said as she tucked the $100 bills into her backpocket so they weren’t showing quite so much.
Zifnab
Conflict of interest? That’s unpossible! Silly unserious liberals. How can they buy influence when they already own us lock, stock, and barrel?
Answer #10,321 to the question, “Why is print journalism failing?” Because I don’t want to buy fifty pages of ads wedged between another fifty pages of ads every day.
Although, honestly, I don’t even know why anyone is surprised.
Violet
She’s a comedian or she’s stupid. A media company isn’t going to bite the hand that feeds it.
Ash Can
In the credit-where-it’s-due department, kudos to the WaPo for
sneaking this one past Fred Hiattreporting on this.aimai
This kind of freebie/advertising/tchockes for coverage is the real reason why our upper class and media types are convinced that rich people “going galt” is the most dangerous thing for the economy. Because it is, for *their* economy. Museums, courthouses, newspapers, etc… are all running at a deficit and they pick up the slack not by finding more consumers to pay for what needs to be paid for but by renting out their premises and/or their workers to the very wealthy. In the case of Museums we’ve gotten so used to sponsorship and naming deals (the Bugatti exhibition of cars! the Major Pharmaceutical company exhibition of some priceless work of art) that we simply can’t even run museums any more, or Opera companies, without their help. Well, the same thing is true for the media. The lower levels of the media get freebies and tid bits from the master’s table, the upper level are upper class. And they know that if those goodies dry up its going to be a dull, working class, salaried life for all.
aimai
kommrade reproductive vigor
Uh, yeah. Have ya’ll seen a print version of Politico recently? I used to pick it up but stopped because last time I looked at it, the number of full page colour ads had increased significantly, to the point it was disruptive. There’s no way a paper that needs that much revenue from corporate sponsors isn’t crooked.
And various teabagger leaders don’t see any racism in their group. Stick your fingers in your ears and chant “La, la, la!” sweetheart, that way you won’t hear it either.
Comrade Parnell
Ah, the fabled “wall” between editorial and advertising. But you know, once in a while somebody sneaks across the border.
Mike in NC
I believe Megan McArdle is one of the stars of the Aspen Ideas Fest. Enough said?
Jeremy
Today’s title courtesy of the Mekons, DougJ?
DougJ
@Jeremy:
Yes.
Roger Moore
@aimai:
That’s been true for a very long time. Museums, operas, and other forms of “high culture” depend on the patronage of the ultra-wealthy, who use them as a way of differentiating themselves from commoners who prefer popular culture. It goes all the way back to aristocratic Europe, where the first big museums and operas were set up. The patronage was handled a bit differently back then, but it’s the same general principle. Why do you think the places are called Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, and the Guggenheim Museum?
Indie Tarheel
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!”
__
Easy peasy.
Mojotron
Every time I think of the “Ideas Festival” I picture someone like McArdle giving the “Phil Donahue” speech.
Ideas!
Angus
Um, news media always have depended upon advertising support from those they cover. Regardless of whether you think that is good or bad, it always has been the case. Trust the source or not based on your experience and interpretation of their acts, but that you are shocked and dismayed that news media take money from those they cover is a bit hard to accept.
Daddy-O
@tim: Goddammit, tim, you have stolen my thunder, AND my response…good for you!
;-)
There’s a REASON they named that site Media WHORES Online. A very GOOD reason.
asiangrrlMN
Hahahahhahahahaha! This is the funniest post I’ve read all day. Thanks, DougJ. I needed the laugh.