Interesting POV- I still say when in Rome whore like the Romans whore RT@Digiday: Andrew Sullivan on native ads: http://t.co/EvC3FnyQrn”
— A Martin (@AMartinTweetss) May 8, 2014
That’s what I did yesterday when Digiday called me up to ask about sponsored content. The resulting interview is here. Money quote:
Brian Braiker: Digiday runs sponsored content.
AS: You’re whoring yourself as well, but at least you’re covering the whoring! They’ve fired all their brothel reporters and started hiring them as brothel greeters.
Or something like that. I can get worked up after a tall, wet cappuccino.
Update from a reader:
As someone who does a lot of development of large media sites (my company specializes in this), I’m responsible for the technical implementation of many of these sponsored content schemes.
I agree with you. These publications are trashing their own credibility, and they will suffer in the long term.
That being said, I’m of a generation that doesn’t see the media as an institution in the same light that you do, so to me these are just businesses that are paying my company to torpedo their long-term viability. Which now that I think about it is pretty much what every media company we work with is doing in a number of different ways. There’s a real stink of desperation coming off of all of these guys, and they’re often very unpleasant to work with, as their stress and panic inevitably rolls downhill onto me. (It’s better than working for startups though, at least some of these companies still manage to make money.)
I’m happy to keep getting my news from you, and I’m also happy to pay for it. I think the patronage model is a better, more honest approach for both journalism and art (I refuse to refer to it as “content”), and your blog is proof that it can work. I don’t ever need to worry about you selling me stuff. If you ever have any questions about the nuts and bolts of how Google watches everything you do and then tells anyone who will pay, I’d be happy to answer them.
The Dish 