Kudos to Michael Levine, Los Angeles public relations exec and author of Broken Windows, Broken Business, for his L.A. Times op-ed criticizing the American Society of Magazine Editors. Levine writes:

Apparently, the American Society of Magazine Editors has a considerably lower opinion of magazine readers (and, for that matter, magazine editors) than one might expect.

The organization’s latest guidelines, issued last week, are intended, in part, to dissuade magazines from printing advertising that could be confused with editorial content. It seems that too many Americans are dazzled by glossy ads and coerced into believing that they are, in fact, magazine copy…

The ASME acted after the Aug. 22 issue of the New Yorker included only ads for Target, with myriad artworks featuring the company’s logo throughout the magazine. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the “ASME found the New Yorker was in technical violation of its guidelines” and required “that an issue sponsored by a single advertiser include a note from the publisher or editor saying as much.”

If readers of the erudite New Yorker can’t be counted on to recognize advertising when they see it, what hope is there for readers of Us Weekly, the National Enquirer or — Lord help us! — Teen People?

As I argued when the ASME’s decision came down, the organization is only delaying the inevitable — and falling behind its competitors in other media in the process.

(Via Romenesko.)