We live in a media universe where "American Idol" judges slurp from giant tumblers of Coca-Cola, "The Biggest Loser" contestants gush about their Subway sandwich feasts and local television news operations sell off "sponsorships" to the highest bidder.
Weather, traffic, sports, ski reports and more now come along with broadcast or Web-based advertising. "Lakers coverage on KCBS and KCAL -- sponsored by Honda."
The thicket of corporate billboards dotting the airwaves can get a little mind-numbing. But most of the time it's easy to sniff out what, and when, we are being sold.
But never put it past nimble sponsors and some media pals to find new ways to slide a little salesmanship your way. How about planting what looks suspiciously like a company promo in the middle of the evening news and presenting it as an "exclusive" report?
That's the ethically suspect maneuver that KTLA-TV Channel 5 pulled last week -- delivering viewers three straight nights of shameless puffery about the "dramatic turnaround" at Ford Motor Co. under the title "The View From the Driver's Seat."
An on-screen disclaimer at the end of the 10 o'clock newscast confirmed what a discerning viewer might have suspected -- that Ford got this glowing treatment because it paid for it. The note said the automaker paid a "sponsorship fee" to KTLA "in connection" with the three-part news series.
I called KTLA General Manager Don Corsini earlier this week to ask if his station hadn't wiped away the once-sacrosanct barrier that divided advertising and news.
Corsini told me that despite the on-screen confirmation of pay-for-play, I had it all wrong. "Ford did not pay KTLA to air the news series," he said.
KTLA's top boss said the segments Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights were produced solely at the station's initiative. He said the disclaimer was related to an hour of time Ford purchased to air its self-produced comeback documentary, "The New American Road," which ran the night after the "news" series concluded.
All of this might seem a little bit confusing and a bit awkward, because KTLA, like the Los Angeles Times, is owned by the Chicago-based Tribune Co. But a viewer had called me after seeing KTLA's Ford coverage last week questioning whether the news story wasn't just one big sales job.
