Money-can't-buy press coverage - London 2020

[JuanPabloAngel]

London’s Evening Standard newspaper, edited by the former chancellor George Osborne, has agreed a £3 million deal with six leading commercial companies, including Google and Uber, promising them “money-can’t-buy” positive news and “favourable” comment coverage, openDemocracy can reveal.

The project, called London 2020, is being directed by Osborne. It effectively sweeps away the conventional ethical divide between news and advertising inside the Standard – and is set to include “favourable” news coverage of the firms involved, with readers unable to differentiate between "news" that is paid-for and other commercially-branded content.

Good old independence of the press eh? I'm surprised it took Osborne so long to get involved in such murky behaviour.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/ja...d-promises-positive-news-coverage-to-uber-goo

 

[mike_field]

Advertorials are one thing - but clearly money can buy it!

 

[JuanPabloAngel]

Yes it's a disgrace that newspapers can be whored out to the highest bidder. Tubbz would have a field day

 

[mike_field]

That's the thing though - unlike blind youtube videos, MSM has outed this deal - therefore the LES can now be ignored on anything they publish about the aforementioned companies.

Their bias is known, and paid for, therefore it goes instantly into my BullShit box.

It's about accountability and transparency. If anything, if I now accidentally read a 'google/uber' story on the LES I'm going to search harder to find out what they wanted hidden.