FT accused of making journalists write advertorials

Mark Sweeney of The Guardian in London reports that the Financial Times is investigating allegations that advertisers have paid for articles to be printed as editorial in its FT Business specialist magazine publishing division.

Sweeney writes, “A spokesman for the Financial Times said the company took the allegations ‘very seriously,’ but had not been provided with any evidence by those making the accusations and could only conclude at this stage that they are based on ‘unsubstantiated complaints.’

“An investigation was launched after the National Union of Journalists sent a letter to a senior executive in the Retail Finance section of the FT Business division alerting them to the claims. FT Business publishes titles including Investors Chronicle, Financial Adviser, The Banker and Money Management.

“‘It has come to our attention that reporters, many of them members of the National Union of Journalists, are often asked to write ‘advertorials’ which pass off as genuine editorial features,’ stated the letter from the NUJ FT Group chapel, seen by MediaGuardian.co.uk.”

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