Keeping a division between editorial and sponsored content

Amy Ann Stoessel of Crain’s Cleveland Business writes about leaving the editorial side of the publication to run its sponsored content operation.

Stoessel writes, “Make no mistake: There is no such thing as ‘pay to play’ on our editorial and news pages.

“Period.

“However, if the Crain Content Studio – Cleveland logo appears, whether as part of a special supplement or within the pages of the issue itself, a sponsor or advertiser had some input or influence on the corresponding content’s production.

“Our ultimate goal is to clearly mark and indicate all paid custom content in print and online, making it look as different as possible as the weekly stories produced by Crain’s Cleveland Business journalists.

“There should be no question from our readers as to the origin of the content, and whether an advertiser had a say in its creation. But, it doesn’t mean that paid content won’t be interesting or valuable to the reader — it’s my job now to make sure that it is.”

Read more here.