"WHAT! Great Caesar's Ghost!", I sputtered and screamed loudly as I reached for the Butler bell and flailed away until Jeeves came running in to soothe my gout ridden foot with a full decanter of fine single malt whiskey...
Newfangled Moneymaker
"Jeeves! There's Spam on my Los Angeles Times Newspaper! What is this advertorial about some television show doing on the front page?!" And then I threw the paper into the fireplace and watched it burn into wisps of flying gray ashes as Jeeves quickly pulled out a flaming remanent to light up my fine Cuban Cigar.
The Bean Counters Won (sort of) with the help of their Frenemy, the Internets
Today the Los Angeles Times pushed the ad banner further up from the bottom of the page, it was easy to ignore, way below the fold. Now it has snaked up the left column, this most sacrosanct of all spaces on the front page...Column One. What's next? "Los Angeles Times. Sponsored by the Xtreme Truck Pulling Expo"? "We hoot for the news?" by the girls of Hooter's? "Today's News sliced and diced for you by Wolverine?"
If I hadn't already gotten my 7 day subscription down to a paltry $21 per month, I would be calling the LATimes front desk and demanding someone to come over and cut it out. But I have a feeling that the next ad we will see will be coupons for the White Sale at Macy's or ads for DUI attorneys. Oh, to hope for something useful, like maybe....news?
The irony in this is the fact that we have two forms of media that are quickly being eclipsed by the internet; print and television. Both holding onto a lifesaver while trying to tread upstream as they approach the waterfall. I can almost hear the words "if we look like a webpage than everyone will read us again! Swim faster!"
What do you think? Am I living in the dark ages of "old timey print?" Or am I demanding quality reporting without having to navigate around "fake news?"
Update: I had better get Jeeves to work on Sunday, the calendar section will be wrapped in a four page Advertorial about the upcoming film Soloist disguised as kick ass journalism. The shame is that it is a film about the LATimes writer Steve Lopez and his stories about a homeless man who was a Juilliard graduate.
I asked for comments from my network on the LATimes and here's their feedback:
"I could not believe it when i saw that this morning in the times. I share your aghast! I hope that advertorials will not be a regular occurrence in the latimes - it cheapens this otherwise excellent newspaper." - Gail Howland
"I don't really mind it. If that's what they need to do in this tough economy I understand. If people aren't willing to pay what it actually costs them to print the paper Advertising revenues fill in the gap.You can't have your information for Free and not have advertising." - Lynn
"First let me say as a former employee of the ol' Tribune Corp, I'm glad to know someone on a local level has finally taken a look at this tragic story. Frontline has done a piece of the decline of the press in general (part of which includes an interview with Tribune and Times execs) and I believe Bill Moyers has as well--very insightful! The death of the Los Angeles Times began in ernest when the buyouts began after the Chicago Tribune bought the company from the Chandler family, and the rest is history as they say! Can you have Jeeves bring me the brandy--the whole bottle thanks!"
- Paul Gladden
"Being a former art director that worked at The Times (in consumer marketing) for over a decade, I must say that when I was there the design, especially the front page was sacred and this NEVER would have even been considered.
Yes, this is the beginning (middle?) of the end. First ads (in this case for TV, but I've seen worse) on the front page. Now advertorials. And the layout looks like a second grader screwed up his/her attempt." - Anon
"Advertising made to look like news on the front page of the LA Times shows us that our local paper really is in trouble. How much did NBC have to pay for that media location? I'm guessing a pretty penny. Does this mean that news has less value than advertising? Or does it really show us all what terrible financial shape our newspaper is in. The Los Angeles Times is busted. They have laid off editors, writers, researchers, pressmen, you name it. There must be a writer or two left that has an amazing story to fill the lower left side of the front page.
There is a place for that ad. It's called the Calendar section. Okay, it belongs on the front page, lower left side of the Calendar section." - Betsy Nathane
"As a former journalist, i often see it come back to the basic debate: can we have 'freedom of the press' in a society where the existence of the press depends on sales? it's a hard time for newspapers, a lot of them are going under, and so we do see more ads, less traditional types and placements of ads, etc.
Another interesting thing, though, is the ownership of newspapers: historically, they were family-owned by people who were interested in journalism. however, as a business with an average 25% profit margin (in contrast to the average business, which has between 5 and 10% profit), in the last decade or so we've seen them snatched up by smart businesspeople who might not necessarily be interested in journalism so much as newspapers as a business venture. and when the profit is no longer worth their time, they're done. (there is a whole book about this i read, can't remember the name, though!)
Finally, readership has always been 55+ age group; the younger generation does prefer to get information from other sources. so that's part of the problem as well.
add all this together and, actually, yes, it might be the end. - Diana M.
"We are all unfortunately so used to infotainment and advertorials, we really can't be too surprised at this further usurping of print real estate. But the front page - how brazen and out-of-step can they be?! And on the heels of destroying the California section...the only thing left that was locally relevant or "custom to LA" about the Times. While the internet is creating a culture of manipulation-weary consumers intent on 2-way communication, the Time's "push" is the ultimate "shove."
Frankly, it just makes me want to cancel my subscription and buy USA Today instead - because it's becoming virtually the same thing, except USA Today has more color!" - Anna Marie P.
"It's trying to look more professional -like WSJ or NYT, but the balance of the rules are off and there's unnecessary use of color (for the dropcaps and the date. It's really awkward and clunky and trying way too hard. And there are too many different font-variants in use...too much going on!" - Karen L.
Update from the Pressroom of the LATimes:
A Petition circulated and signed by 100+ LATimes Staff Members. We the journalists of the newsroom strenuously object to the decision to sell an ad, in the form of a phony news story, on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. The NBC ad may have provided some quick cash, but it has caused incalculable damage to this institution. This action violates a 128-year pact with our readers that the front page is reserved for the most meaningful stories of the day. Placing a fake news article on A-1 makes a mockery of our integrity and our journalistic standards. The Los Angeles Times stands apart from other sources of news and information in Southern California because of our willingness to report the truth, even when it angers powerful interests or puts us in peril. Our willingness to sell our most precious real estate to an advertiser is embarrassing and demoralizing.
Image: Los Angeles Times Front page April 9, 2009
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These guys don't seem to realize that the money raised by this kind of new ad format won't make up for the hole in the business model - but it will turn off anyone who still believe in the notion of local news media and reporting. The kid who is going to save the press isn't sitting around developing novel ways to hawk crap NBC shows. She or he is coming up with new technologies. The end of the newspaper is going to be good times for all the hack sales people out there who have been waiting for this moment to feast on the corpse!
Dear eigen,
You are right, it's grabbing for anything that might work, but usually ends up in lost subscribers and integrity. I have a book on User Interface design from way back in 1995. Even then you could see the tsunami approaching over the crest of the mountain. But "they" held tight thinking that no matter what, they were indestructible. Music, film and print, all of them now tilting over into the rushing digital waves. Thank you for visiting and commenting, :O) ophelia
I'm not against selling ads on the front page, but why do they have to look like fake articles? Does anyone actually believe that the fake-article look creates a greater connection between a reader and the product being advertised?
The only reason advertisers like this kind of thing is because it creates controversy. I wouldn't have paid any attention to this show but now I know about it. Also, the sales people love it because it allows them to stick it to the edit side of the house.
Dear lailyn,
The "fake news" is an insult to the journalists of the LATimes and to their readers. Even with the NBC banner saying it's an advertisement "hey you might read this thinking its real" mentality is assuming the readers of the paper are mindless sheep that will glance over a headline and take it as "real".
I understand that advertising pays the bills but why this? The warring factions of the ad people vs journalists has gone on for years, each saying one carries the weight of the other. It seems the ad people are winning, by the cuts to the staff, the winnowing of senior writers to a lessened voice of the editors.
Thanks for visiting and commenting, it's much appreciated. :O) ophelia
as a former newspaper boy riding a bike with the bags on the handle bars i have watched the change in the whole system . just like the delivery system has changed from bikes to cars the content has changed and the presentation of the content . i have always liked the way it was better than the way it is . but i do not see the paper on the front lawn of very many houses these days . and the number of readers for each delivered paper is down also . so i say just be happy that the paper still shows up at your door and read the parts that you like and pray that you die before the newspaper does . breakfast without the sports section would be a bore . and the conversation at the counter of the cafe without the paper to fund the discussion of the day would make for a diminished counter culture .
Dear Jesse,
I was a newspaper girl back in Toronto. I remember going door to door collecting money for the week's papers. How they trusted 12 year old kids, I will never know. I am addicted to reading something the moment I get up. Even when I travel, I will run down and buy a local paper. Its not just the "reading", it's the tactile part of the paper I also love. The feel of the paper, the sound of each page turning, the smell of the pulp. Now we show each other web pages on our iPhones, we don't pause over an open spread of the paper and read each article.
By the time the news lands on my doorstop, it is old. How did we ever survive before? How did we wait 24 hours for our news? The speed of change has always moved at the same pace, it is only now that the media has caught up, leaving newspapers in the dustbin, another anachronism from the past.
Thank you for visiting and commenting, it is appreciated, especially from a world traveler such as yourself and an avid reader of all local papers. :O) ophelia
porch delivery counts . i delivered the san diego union in the morning to start with and then the san diego evening tribune in the afternoon . and in the days when i threw them some places still had the milk delivered and to hit the porch and not break the bottles took some practice . the collecting was something i did not like in the beginning but i learned to add and subtract on my feet and to make change the old fashioned way . and those skills still serve me today . going around trying to get new subscribers was another story altogether , but i still remember to this day knocking on the screen door of this old house and when the man came to the door i gave him my pitch . his reply was that he could no longer see well enough to read the paper or read much of anything else . i was so scared that that might happen to me and then what would i do . reading was almost everything to me . later on i used to walk the beach in the afternoon selling the racing edition when the del mar race track was in season . " extra extra , read all about it " it was not easy to do that as i was not much of an extrovert then , but i used those skills over and over in my later life .
as far as reading goes i used to read the cereal boxes in the morning at the breakfast table . and i still remember the first article i read about art , which was the story about " back seat dodge " at the los angeles art museum by ed kienholz at the breakfast table . books , newspapers and magazines have always been a big part of my life . and now the keyboard of the internet plays a big part . but reading is what i want most of all . a well turned phrase makes my hair stand up . and all of the little pieces of wisdom and knowledge gleaned from the printed page helped make me what i am . thank god for the moveable type man . rock and roll . . . . . .
Dear Jesse,
Your story evokes so many memories. And the same fear of not being able to see well enough to read, that sent shivers up my spine. Thank you for you for taking me down that path of the past and possible future. :O) Ophelia
The ad sales people are losing! that's why the papers are going bankrupt!
My father-in-law (may he rest in peace) worked his way up from the mail room to be a vice president of the NY Times. He lived well into his late 90's with sharp senses, a keen intellect and luxurious dark black hair. What was his secret? He got up each morning and red the Times from cover to cover (completing the crossword, too) and then ran his fingers through his hair!
amp
hi amp,
i am now going to rub my head in the LATimes, hopefully I don't come away with an ad stuck to my forehead. Thanks for visiting! :O) ophelia