DEAR PEP: My Magazine is in Bed with the Advertisers

I just started at a trade magazine covering a relatively small industry. The publisher and sales guys run amok in terms of giving away editorial in exchange for ads. Everything from company profiles, Q&As, smaller department features, the works. So far my proudest accomplishment was convincing the publisher to let us run advertorials with the words "advertiser sponsored content" on the page. Before that, they were disguising advertorials as bylined feature stories. Is this dilemma a bigger one for trade magazines than consumer mags? How does a new editor fight it? My previous magazine worked out a compromise with the sales guys -- we relegated BOB and FOB sections for news briefs and new product announcements and let the sales guys give preferential treatment to advertisers in those departments. In exchange, the sales folks had to keep a hands off attitude about the feature well.

Should I draw a line in the sand? Am I breaking some journalistic code of honor by going along with it, to ensure I'll receive a paycheck? —AAACK

Dear Aaack:

Yes, unfortunately, this is far too common among trade publications. You have taken a great first step in getting advertorials labeled as such. This is a standard recommendation in the ASME Guidelines for Editors and Publishers.   ASME (the American Society of Magazine Editors for long) includes business publications as well as consumer. The introduction to the guidelines says:

“For magazines to be trusted by consumers and to endure as brands, readers must be assured of their editorial integrity. With that core conviction in mind—and the overwhelming support of its members—the American Society of Magazine Editors for over two decades has issued guidelines to make sure that the difference between advertising and editorial content is transparent to readers and that there is no advertiser influence or pressure on editorial independence.”

What’s more, ASME says, “Advertisers should not pay to place their products in editorial pages nor should they demand placement in return for advertising. Editorial pages may display and credit products and tell readers where to buy them, as long as those pages are solely under editorial control.”

The American Business Media has an  Editorial Code of Ethics  that also covers advertising-editorial conflicts. Under their “general editorial code of ethics,” they pledge to, among other things:

•Avoid all conflicts of interest as well as any appearances of such conflicts.

• Maintain an appropriate professional distance from the direct preparation of special advertising sections or other advertisements.

• Show the distinction between news stories and editorials, columns and other opinion pieces.

• Accept as their primary responsibility the selection of editorial content based on readers' needs and interests.

Plus, there's a great book out that covers all this. 

So, I suggest providing your boss with a copy of the ASME Guidelines and the ABM Code in a nicely-worded presentation, acknowledging the magazine’s (unfortunate) tradition and the (equally unfortunate) economy but suggesting you work together to make some minor (for now) modifications to be more in line with professional standards.

Then change bit-by-bit, one small battle at a time, one advertiser at a time. Don’t try to completely reinvent the rules overnight—although that would be great in an ideal world. In this real world, you make more progress if you look less like a threat to a cozy status quo. Promote the idea of special FOB and BOB sections, as you did on the previous magazine. That was for the same company, so there is corporate precedent there. Do one department a month or so, so the change seems small. You’ll see the progress over time. Sort of like paving a road—you do it one stretch at a time and pretty soon you have an interstate. Then watch out for raccoons.