It depends, journalists say. Rich Gordon, who headed The Miami Herald 's online site for four years, says he is not necessarily troubled by commercial links embedded in news. Still, it is more difficult for readers to recognize the line between commerce and content online than in print. For this reason disclosure is essential, according to Rich Jaroslovsky, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal 's Web site. But I think as we go along, there will be more labels.
Credibility is actually a driver of traffic.
Tracy McNamara is an assistant editor at cjr .