Adrian Vore, the reader’s representative at the San Diego Union-Tribune, writes about how an ad for a luxury condominium appeared the same day as a story about the condo.
Vore writes, “Business editor Diana McCabe said neither she nor Showley knew a Pacific Gate spadea ad was running that day. Reporters and their editors are rarely aware of which ads are scheduled to run or where they are going to be placed. Ads have no bearing on their decisions, which is the way it should be.
“McCabe said she believes the story did not cross any lines. ‘It’s the biggest and most expensive condo project yet downtown, and we’ve been covering that development very closely,’ McCabe said. ‘Nat Bosa has built many projects downtown and has several more in the works, so we tend to keep an eye on what he’s doing. He often starts projects when others hold back. We included the contact information because it was an event the public could attend. (We often get email or phone calls requesting that information.)’
“Reporters and editors regularly produce stories on businesses or people that can result in positive publicity. But they first weigh if the story has news value — is it interesting, compelling, different, trend-setting, for instance. Publicity is not their concern.
“‘We look at scope and importance,’ McCabe said. ‘In this case, the developer has a large presence downtown, and this was one of the premier buildings coming online. It is highly visible.'”
Read more here.
