From Hollywood Reporter:
While just about every television genre has jumped on the lucrative product-placement bandwagon, news programs generally have been considered off-limits to preserve editorial integrity. But with TV stations facing increased competition and pressure on advertising revenue, the barriers that shielded news programming from such deals are falling …
Radio-Television News Directors Association president Barbara Cochran warned that integrating advertisers into news programing could backfire, costing local stations viewers instead of having the intended effect of increasing ad sales…
Univision’s KMEX has an integration partnership with health-care provider Kaiser Permanente Southern California as part of what the station calls its “Lead a healthy life, get the facts” public-service campaign. Kaiser physicians are interviewed on myriad health topics on Univision’s various news programs, news footage is shot at Kaiser facilities, and Kaiser patients and support groups are featured in news segments. As part of the arrangement, Kaiser pays additional fees for the integrations, which are not disclosed as such during the news programs.
“Bringing Kaiser on board was a win-win for both of us because they get the exposure of their physicians on television and we have their experts giving us the medical view on a particular health issue and providing vital information to our audience,” a Univision spokeswoman said. “Typically news isn’t for sale because you need to maintain your integrity. However, you also need to be creative to find ways to include your advertisers without damaging your credibility.”
She said KMEX also has involved some of its news personalities in on-air integration/promotion deals with other advertisers, including a major automaker.
Here’s a quote for you: “Typically news isn’t for sale.”
Technorati tags: Journalism, PR, Public Relations, Marketing
Tags: dallas branding agency, dallas marketing, marketing dallas
How far is it from product placement to shakedown journalism? Why do we participate in this?
Not very far at all.
When I saw this, the first thing I thought of was individual segments, Crime, Fires, etc., being sponsored:
“And now, the Kingston Charcoal House Fire Report.”
I was more incredulous that the big three networks could say with a straight face that they don’t support placement, and yet, GMA does cruise ship segments live.
Are the networks living in their own little world and think no one is noticing the charade?