USA Today reporter Jayne O’Donnell examined the new Consumer Reports magazine for shoppers called ShopSmart and came away impressed after her interview with editor Lisa Lee Freeman. The magazine accepts no advertising.
O’Donnell wrote, “Freeman says it’s crucial for shopping magazines to enjoy the public’s trust and notes that the type of products ShopSmart features, in particular, require independence. Along with detailing how synthetic many purportedly ‘organic’ creams really are, for instance, ShopSmart’s first issue reviews family cars, child seats and diet supplements. There are 800,000 issues on newsstands.
“Along with recommending what readers should buy, ShopSmart also suggests what they not buy — something Freeman notes is unusual among shopping magazines.
“But ShopSmart’s rivals insist that they aren’t influenced by ads and that the extent of free samples is misunderstood. Even the editors at Hearst’s Shop Etc., which went so far as to use an ad for Target as its August cover, say the line between advertising and editorial content isn’t as blurred as some assume. That 2-year-old magazine has a circulation of 675,000.”
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