YahooNews’ Michael Calderone reported that the Washington Post’s Sunday, Sept 12 edition featured an advertising wrap, “which covered half the front page and all of the back page.” One week later, for the Sunday, Sept 19 edition, the Post is slated to feature “a display ad on the bottom of the actual front page,” Calderone added.
The prominent advertising is The Post’s first step into front-page advertising, Calderone noted. The Post follows moves made by other well-known newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
But, because journalism ethics codes advise carefully distinguishing between news and editorial, some of the new advertising options have resulted in news organizations being critiqued.
StinkyJournalism wrote in July when the LA Times was criticized for its advertising wrap promoting new King Kong attraction at Hollywood Studios. While the King Kong wrap was labeled “advertisement,” much of the wrap’s design closely resembled the design of the regular news sections of the newspaper. Los Angeles’ county supervisors even weighed in on the criticism and sent a letter to the Times calling the wrap “offensive,” “alarming” and distasteful.
The LA Times was also under fire in March when it sold its front-page for a Disney ad promoting its new movie “Alice in Wonderland.”