King Kong Trashes LA Times
In a world where shameful and shameless mean the same thing, the L A Times' intentional mixing and confusing of advertising and content is both. The LATEXTRA section today, wrapped in a faux news advertising Universal and their new King Kong attraction, was repellent. This advertising masquerading as news is an appalling breach of journalistic ethics--if any remain. There can be no question that its intent was to mislead and confuse readers into believing that something terrible happened at Universal and over a wide-spread area of Southern California there was catastrophe and damage.
Ironically there was more than a germ of truth in this. Something terrible and destructive did happen, but it was to the Los Angeles Times. The ever more blurry line between news and advertising is virtually erased and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two. It is made yet more problematic when inside the paper news and entertainment writers cover advertisers. How can we not believe that marketing creates editorial pressure?
People mourn the passing of our great newspapers and believe that they are being killed off by the Internet. This is only half true. Some, like the Times, are committing suicide and are actively complicit in their sad fate.
News, whether on paper or in electrons, is built on credibility. You do not fool your customers, whether readers or viewers. When you teach us not to trust you, we will look elsewhere.
King Kong indeed went on a rampage and left, not Universal in tatters, but the Times credibility in complete disarray.
©2010 Jonathan Dobrer
www.Dobrer.com
Wasn't it War of the Worlds that did for radio what this did for the L.A. Times? This kind of thing has been going on for a long time. But in fact, the printed press is being killed off by the Internet and that's way more than half true--that's the bulk of the reason. As for the remainder of the reason, you're correct that credibility is definitely a reason the mainstream media in general is having trouble holding onto readers/viewers, but silly stories like this are not really the problem.