I think it s problematic, says news ethicist Woods. It s either intentionally or unintentionally deceptive to leave open the question as to whether this is refereed, critically examined news copy or fluffy, biased advertising copy. By failing to make that separation clearly, he adds, readers are left to judge these stories using exactly the same measure of judgment that they would for any other story. The stronger possibility is that readers may think it s news. Glen T. Cameron, the Gregory Chair in Journalism Research at the Missouri School of Journalism, says most newspaper readers in his studies ignore bylines and even a one-time warning that content laid out as news is really advertising.
Most readers are also oblivious to font changes.
He has conducted a variety of studies using average readers as research subjects. People won't pick up on that. Advertisers ask news media to package ads in news format, Cameron says, because research has shown that it increases both long and short-term memory of the content and makes it more believable. And above the developer s byline on every story, the Mercury prints Promotional Material in boldface print. The Chronicle and Examiner occasionally run a section called New Homes that is clearly laid out as an advertising section, but contains ads in news format inside.