While some forms of sponsored content blur the line between advertising and entertainment, there are some lines that should not–and cannot–be broken. Well make that should not, because the can is, alas, happening in a number of markets as product integration has made its way into local newscasts and other news programs.
As TV stations look to turn a buck, they’re capitalizing on interest from clients in getting their pitches–soft sell and otherwise–woven into the fabric of news programming.
For example, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Spanish language TV station KMEX, Los Angeles, has an integration partnership with healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente Southern California. It’s part of what the station calls its “Lead a healthy life, get the facts” public service campaign. But it’s more a public disservice.
Kaiser physicians are interviewed regularly on health topics for KMEX news pieces, news footage is shot at Kaiser facilities, and Kaiser patients and support groups are featured in news segments. Kaiser pays fees for the inclusion, an arrangement that isn’t disclosed during the programs.
Other examples cited in The Hollywood Reporter piece included an 11-day “Spa Spectacular” series in which 11 local spas were featured in the last half-hour of morning news programs on KRON-TV, San Francisco. Viewers were offered the chance to buy half-price gift certificates for spa services. Additionally Tourism Australia paid KRON to run a weeklong series featuring stories about Down Under in its morning news program. Tourism Australia bought traditional spots in the program while also paying an integration fee, and footing the bill for a five-member news crew to travel to Australia.
Call it an Estate sale–except in this case it’s the Fourth Estate in a transaction that wouldn’t have been fathomed years ago when preserving editorial integrity was paramount. But the ad industry isn’t entirely to blame. The emergence of the pay-for-play dynamic is symptomatic of what many news programs have become: entertainment.
Happy talk newscasts, team coverage of “the runaway bride,” freeway car chases/police pursuits, celebrity-driven fare ranging from movie reviews to romantic liaisons, features on the titillating instead of the intellectually stimulating, coverage of what the public supposedly wants rather than what it needs to know. Even much of the so-called issues-driven news fare takes the form of talk radio on TV, with “journalists” confronting anyone and everyone, generating controversy but rarely any meaningful insights, much less genuine illumination.
Sadly news in these forms is packaged entertainment, which dovetails nicely with product integration and other forms of sponsorship. But true journalism doesn’t mix with product placement and the like. The news shouldn’t be for sale–even the suggestion of impropriety is unacceptable.
While this publication has covered–and sometimes lauded–inventive forms of branded entertainment, there’s no room for such compromise in news programming. The ethics guidelines of the Radio and Television News Directors Association’s affirm that news reporting and decision-making “should be free of inappropriate commercial influences” and “should not show favoritism to advertisers.” The guidelines language goes on to urge that news organizations “protect the integrity of coverage against any potential conflict of interest.”
Clearly some news directors have ignored–or have been ordered to ignore–these guidelines. The ad industry shouldn’t be party to such abdication of journalistic responsibility.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More