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If you’ve picked up a USA Today in the past two weeks, you’ve probably noticed that the paper has been missing one crucial element—its front page.
Well, to be fair, the front page is still there, per se. It’s just hidden within the fold of a four-page Jeep ad (see image).
This marks the first time USA Today has allowed for such unorthodox advertising, but at $1 million-plus from Jeep, it seems the deal was just too tempting to pass up.
According to industry publication MediaWeek, USA Today‘s senior vice president of advertising, Lee Jones, says that in the past, concerns about editorial integrity and circulation deterred the paper from selling ads of this nature. But now, market demand and the quality of the ad have eased these worries.
“I think it’ll have minimal impact on single copy sales,” Jones said. “The look and feel will be very close to the way the paper looks.”
While the ad may or may not impact newspaper sales—I’m still waiting for the figures—since when does aesthetics trump integrity? I’m not saying that USA Today is being unethical or even just a little bit naughty, but I do think that Jones is reaching when he implies that the ad is a-okay because it looks good.
The truth is that if USA Today and other papers weren’t buckling under the recession, neither they nor their parent companies would ever allow for advertising to hide vital content.
But as we all know, journalism jobs are dwindling and media companies, especially newspapers, are having to rethink their advertising strategies in order to stay afloat.
So, what do you think about USA Today‘s move to sell ad space not just on, but in place of its front page? Do you think it violates their journalistic integrity? After all, how could they run a potentially negative story on Jeep if the paper is wrapped in images of the Grand Cherokee? Or—do you think that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that this will in no way influence editorial content?
Selected further reading from News-Geek.com:
Rima Chaddha Mycynek is a writer, reporter, editor, photographer, videographer, former talk show host, and all-around journalism nerd. She currently teaches multimedia journalism at Boston University. [
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8 users responded in this post
Wow. But I guess this isn’t that surprising. I keep hearing about other printed news publications having hard times.
I think this is just a signpost on the road marking the end of many printed publications. With the advent of the net, bringing you instant news, and handheld devices like the ipad, I can’t see a bright future for them. But then I so see a bright future for ipad like devices. OH! did you see that the US Copyright office said that users can legally alter their ipad and iphone devices (AKA Jailbreaking) without breaking any laws? So you can jailbreak your iphone to run apps that apple has banned (like google voice) or even sign up with some other carrier!
I think Apple has become the new Microsoft in terms of being an electronic dictator surpressing our freedoms.
The journalist training in me is screaming inside that content is being covered by advertising. But the truth is in dire times extreme methods need to be taken. I just think that the million-plus USA Today received from Jeep may have saved jobs and kept the newspaper in publication – or put off the inevitable. One or the other. Normally I would cringe at the thought of advertising taking precedence over news content but when that news content is written by journalists (who are underpaid already) who need jobs, who have bills, and who need the money, I can’t really argue with that.
There is no journalism without money. If front page advertising pays reporters, it’s a slam dunk. In the age of newspaper desperation there is no such thing as sacred space.
I’m inclined to agree. Even if it “feels” wrong to us trained journalists, it’s just an ad. As Ralph says, there is no sacred space.
I think it shouldn’t become a permanent thing. Maybe for a while but I still feel like a paper isn’t a paper without a front page headline. That being said, I feel the quality of what articles make front page has declined and is further cheapened by overwhelming ad space.
I can say this. Many people might not have strong feelings about USA Today, Jeep, or the formal or academic definition of “journalistic integrity.”
Also, many of us are capitalists who might not even oppose a free-market move like this.
However, I guess what worries me is that this is just one of many symptoms of people doing things they might not normally do in a better economy. In the past week, I noticed that the health food / smoothie store in my neighborhood was replaced with a “Cash for Gold” shop.
I *like* my health food smoothies, but the instant economic gratification of “cash for gold” trumps it according to the masses.
So, overall, I guess I’d have to say that USA Today has every right to do this, but I’m disappointed that they’re in a position, like many of us are, where this is tempting, and there may be more temptations down the road that don’t go by as smoothly.
sigh.
it breaks my heart to see it.
but…i am a reporter. i’m a reporter who works paycheck to paycheck. every time my paycheck runs out (which is, since the recession, every pay period), i have to find money elsewhere. lately, i’ve been pulling from my little bit of vacation savings. i don’t really see things getting any better in terms of pay for reporters, though.
it breaks my heart to have to pull from my little bit of savings, and it breaks my heart to see advertising on the front page of any paper. but, desperate times, eh?
One of my fears is once we open this door, it will remain this way. Once something has been established as acceptable, even if it is a short term fix, it is hard to return to old ways (or, in many cases, to move beyond that). Then again, whether we choose to believe it, many magazines may as well be advertisements for fashion designer x or product y. I guess magazines could do the same thing by slapping some product names up there and making some easy money.
Will it save jobs? Perhaps. Will these be the jobs of good journalists saved? I can’t say. My hope is that is the case. But I think this is only a temporary fix to a long term problem. Newspapers are in the process of a great transformation and evolution. I suppose we will all have to take a page from the billboard industry and “Watch this space.”
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