Question of the week #8

How is blogging from a game any different than radio coverage?

They are both live coverage, says Lance Jugmeyer, editor of The Packer at Vance Publishing. His question and comments are in response to a recent news clip from the Courier-Journal. According to the paper, the credentials of one of its reporters was revoked because he was blogging from the press box at a University of Louisville game. The paper says the move imposes on First Amendment rights. The school says it was merely following the policies set by the NCAA. For the full story, click here.

(Thanks to our ASBPE KC secretary Jeff Geleski who provided the news clip.)

Question of the week (#7)

How does your editorial staff handle interactions with public relations personnel?

When groups (often advertisers) want to get a story out they go to their PR groups. Then those PR groups bring their ideas for editorial to you. What's the policy at your magazine on accepting and using such material?

Here's how the ASBPE's "Guide to preferred editorial practices" says to handle PR people.

I.B.5 Public Relations Personnel.
These guidelines outline preferred procedure in dealing with public relations personnel during the preparation of material for publication:

a. If the contact involves arranging for an expert author to produce an article, at an editor’s request, the author should be identified as a guest contributor, with company affiliation and job title clearly listed. The article provided should meet all editorial requirements set by the editors, and should be edited in the manner of staff-generated or freelance-contracted content.

b. Public relations personnel may be asked to help arrange contacts with key sources.

c. When an article idea originates in a public relations department, it is logical for editors and reporters to seek more details from this and other sources.

d. When additional interviews are needed, public relations practitioners may help make appointments and advise editors on appropriate personnel with whom to speak.

e. Public relations personnel are logical sources to provide editors with suitable illustrations to accompany articles, and company clearance for those illustrations, or for designated personnel to speak to the editors, when needed.

f. When the same person handles advertising and public relations responsibilities, a clear distinction should be maintained between the two functions. It is advisable, however, for editorial to seek an alternative source in any case in which a conflict may result.

Links:

• Past questions of the week to ponder, including "How should editors handle advertiser freebies?"
• The meeting recap on editorial ethics
• The ASBPE's new ethics guide
  

Click on the comments link below to leave your thoughts.

Question of the week (#6)

How should editors handle advertiser freebies?

As an editor, stuff comes your way. Now, we b2b editors may not be privy to the same swag as our compatriots the consumer pubs, but stuff comes our way nonetheless — sometimes really cool stuff.

Should editors accept gifts from advertisers?
And are we only talking about big gifts here? Or do you think the little things count? I may be willing to give up my collection of pens with advertisers' names on the sides, but I really would be very sad to part with the USB flash drives from advertisers. Oh, and I have that nice computer bag too...

Should editors let outside companies pay for their travel costs?
Is there a distinction between a company paying for an editor to come listen to an advertising spiel and paying for an editor to attend a sponsored lecture series or something else along lines of being a benefit to the industry? What if the advertiser pays for the editor's travel to cover a special event or product launch?

Does accepting these gifts automatically affect editorial? Or can a magazine's other policies prevent the appearance of favoritism in print?

If gifts are acceptable under some circumstances, how transparent should the giving be?

Links:

• Past questions of the week to ponder, including "What are some of the ethical issues involved with placing editorial content online?"
• The meeting recap on editorial ethics

Click on the comments link below to leave your thoughts.

Question of the week (#5)

What are some of the ethical issues involved with placing editorial content online?

Most magazines have websites, though their aims are different. Some offer information on the web only after it has appeared in print. Others write new pieces just for web readers.

Whatever the copy is, do the ethics rule that apply to print apply to the web? What are the rules for magazine websites? Is this an area where editorial staffs are more ethically lax? Is this a venue where advertisers can have a freer rein? Should they? And what about those regurgitated press releases — shunned from print issues — that have found homes on magazine websites?

Links:

• Last week's question: Should editors permit advertisers or sources to review articles prior to publication?
• Past questions of the week to ponder
• The meeting recap on editorial ethics

To offer your comments, click on the comments link below.

Question of the week (#4)

Should editors permit advertisers or sources to review articles prior to publication?

At the editorial ethics meeting, some editors said that they call sources and read the quotes to be used and the context they would be used in. Others said that they didn't allow review at all. No one said that they allowed advertisers to review articles.

What are the issues here? Where are the potential pitfalls? Are there benefits to allowing sources or advertisers to preview articles? Or is this something that ethically should always be avoided?

Links:

• Last week's question (Does your magazine solicit ads based on the mentions of potential advertisers in articles?) stirred up a bit of discussion. See what was said, and leave your thoughts.
• Past questions of the week to ponder
• The meeting recap on editorial ethics

Question of the week (#3)

Does your magazine solicit ads based on the mentions of potential advertisers in articles?

When articles come in that mention advertisers or potential advertisers, some writers send these articles to sales reps. They then contact the advertisers to let them know a certain advertiser will be featured in an upcoming issue and solicit ads. They don't show them the content or give them too many details on the article. Is this ethical?

Links:

• Past questions of the week to ponder
• The meeting recap on editorial ethics

Question of the week (#2)

What role should editors play with regards to advertorials?

At our recent meeting on editorial ethics, there seemed to be an agreement that editors should know of the advertorials to run in their magazines but should not be involved with their production. But the real world of b2b publishing isn't so cut and dry, many attendees at the meeting admitted that the editors on their publications were frequently involved with the production of advertorials.

With this knowledge in hand, here are a few additional questions to ponder:
Should editors, freelancers, the sales team or advertisers write them?
How should these pages be designed?
Should they be labeled as advertorials?

Please feel free to share your thoughts. This forum is not limited to members; all are welcome to participate. And, if you missed the last question of the week, read it here.

Question of the week

Thanks to everyone who attended our February meeting on creating an editorial and sales balance. Jody Shee, our chapter secretary, will post the meeting recap soon for those of you who weren't able to attend.

But there is more to be said on this topic than could be addressed during the luncheon. So, to continue the discussion, I will post a new question every week to tackle a different aspect of this topic.

This week's pondering: At surface level, it may seem easy for an editorial team to say, "We don't allow that," and draw a firm line between editorial and ads. But some of us on b2b publications currently don't have a firm line to work from. How do you decide where this line is? How do you change the culture of acceptance within your own editorial and sales teams? And how do you tell advertisers that "We don't do that" when "we" did it last week?

Share your thoughts by clicking on "Add a comment" below. And if you have additional questions on this topic or another topic, please email me.

Past questions of the week

Welcome to the home for past questions of the week. While retired from active duty, these questions still enjoy being pondered. And feel free to comment.

1. How do you redraw the line between editoral and ads?
2. What role should editors play with regards to advertorials?
3. Does your magazine solicit ads based on the mentions of potential advertisers in articles?
4. Should editors permit advertisers or sources to review articles prior to publication?
5. What are some of the ethical issues involved with placing editorial content online?
6. How should editors handle advertiser freebies?
7. How does your editorial staff handle interactions with public relations personnel?