New York Times public editor Margaret Sullivan explored Monday the newspaper’s plans to find new sources of revenue, including finding sponsors for content.
Sullivan writes, “Some years ago, when the Philadelphia Inquirer agreed to have Citizens Bank sponsor a business column, outlined in the bank’s signature green color and carrying the company logo, the writer Barbara Ehrenreich attacked the idea in a piece for The Nation:
“‘What next: The Wal-Mart column on social class in America? The Philip Morris column on health issues? Remington bringing us essays on school violence?’
“I asked Ms. Hall and Mr. Baquet how they would deal with such concerns. Both put the new position in the context of a long tradition at newspapers, with sections devoted to real estate and travel, for example, intended to be both interesting to readers and appealing to advertisers.
“We have always tried to figure out what can we sell, and to do it in a way that is good for the readers and is done to Times standards,’ Ms. Hall said. For example, she recalled, the now defunct Circuits section was intended to pull in tech advertising while offering good content.
“Would The Times allow Apple or Samsung to sponsor a tech column, I asked Mr. Baquet.
“‘That would make me uncomfortable,’ he said. ‘We’re not going to do anything that jeopardizes the credibility of The New York Times.'”
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