Disguising Ads as Editorial Content

Banner photo of the Inquirer, March 15, 2016.

JEERS TO three major dailies for passing off an advertisement as editorial content.

On March 15, 2016, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippine Star, and the Manila Bulletin ran a photo of McDonald’s promotional “4th National Breakfast Day” on their respective front pages. The photos appeared in the papers a day after the event. Most notably, the Inquirer published a large picture on the subject above the fold. The Star and Bulletin, meanwhile, published smaller photos below the fold.

While the Inquirer photo was credited to its photographer Richard Reyes, the Star and Bulletin photos did not include any credit line. It is unclear whether these photos were taken by the papers’ photographers or were part of a press release by McDonald’s.

The three newspapers also ran advertisements in their respective centerfolds. However, unlike the sponsored stories and images in the inside pages, the photos on the front pages did not include any clear indication that these were sponsored by the advertiser. As a result, the photographs, which were obviously meant to lead the readers to the advertisement in the inside pages, tended to appear as regular editorial content.

Similar cases have been reported by the CMFR in the past. The increasing number of such occurrences undermines the original mandate of the press to provide the public unbiased information without, as the cliché goes, “fear or favor.”