Sponcon Disclosure Lessons from Teen Vogue’s Facebook Article Controversy

As the lines between journalism and advertising become increasingly blurred, media companies must be on high alert for potential pitfalls around the failure to properly disclose sponsored content. The proper characterization of content as commercial advertising, and the proper disclosure of such sponsored content, has drawn the scrutiny of both the Federal Trade Commission and the National Advertising Division in recent years. Teen Vogue’s equivocation on whether an uncritical article on Facebook’s role in the 2020 election amounted to sponsored content provides many lessons from which other media companies should learn. Earlier today, Teen Vogue published an article titled, “How Facebook Is Helping Ensure the Integrity of the 2020 Election.” The Twitterverse was set abuzz, because it seemed to be overly laudatory of Facebook and did not contain any critical questioning.  Commentators found the questions posed and the tone of the article surprising in light of Facebook’s role in the 2016 election and its recent public pronouncement regarding its approach in 2020. “Interesting pivot for Teen Vogue here to… Facebook PR?” tweeted Steven Perlberg, a freelance writer formerly with BuzzfFeed News and The Wall Street Journal, while Molly Jong-Fast of The Daily Beast described the article as “so sketchy.” Approximately an hour after it was posted, Teen Vogue added a prominent disclosure below the headline, stating, “Editor’s note: This is sponsored editorial content.” In a... Continue reading at 'Folio Magazine'

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-01-09 00:40:34 UTC ]
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Video Briefing: Rising costs on Facebook force publishers to rethink branded video distribution

Costs for paid video distribution on Facebook has more than doubled year-over-year. The post Video Briefing: Rising costs on Facebook force publishers to rethink branded video distribution appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The dark lesson of a $24 million Amazon book

This is what happens when algorithms call the shots. I can still recall my surprise when a book by evolutionary biologist Peter Lawrence entitled The Making of a Fly came to be priced on Amazon at $23,698,655.93 (plus $3.99 shipping). While my colleagues around the world must have become rather... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook is paying 12 publishers for Watch shows starring video creators

Publishers in the new Facebook-funded program include BuzzFeed, Conde Nast and Viacom. The post Facebook is paying 12 publishers for Watch shows starring video creators appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This Big Facebook Critic Fears Tech’s Business Model

Roger McNamee was a mentor Mark Zuckerberg and an early investor in Facebook. Now he has written a book about the "Facebook catastrophe." Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2019-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ambitious breakup of Amazon, Facebook and Google is proposed by Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pledged Friday to take aim at Amazon, Facebook and Google if she is elected president in 2020, breaking apart each of the big tech companies and introducing sweeping new regulation of Silicon Valley. The proposal marks the most ambitious and aggressive effort... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-08 20:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ambitious breakup #elizabeth warren #pledged friday #elected president #introducing sweeping #silicon valley #proposal marks


Ambitious breakup of Amazon, Facebook and Google is proposed by Elizabeth Warren

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pledged Friday to take aim at Amazon, Facebook and Google if she is elected president in 2020, breaking apart each of the big tech companies and introducing sweeping new regulation of Silicon Valley. The proposal marks the most ambitious and aggressive effort... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-03-08 20:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ambitious breakup #elizabeth warren #pledged friday #elected president #introducing sweeping #silicon valley #proposal marks


Elizabeth Warren pledges to break up Facebook, Google and Amazon

Today, Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren published a post on Medium in which she detailed why she wants to break up large Internet companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Google. In her post, she accuses these companies of using their v... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2019-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Picador pre-empts The Reluctant Carer after anonymous viral article

Picador has pre-empted non-fiction book The Reluctant Carer by an anonymous author whose recent article went viral. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why this digital publisher refuses to blame Facebook for media's woes

Subscribe to us on iTunes, check us out on Spotify and hear us on Stitcher, Google Play and iHeartRadio too. This is our RSS feed. Tell a friend!Ben Lerer has a message for digital publishers: Stop blaming the big, bad duopoly for eating your homework. Continue reading at AdAge.com Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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5 things we learned about Facebook content moderation from a Reddit AMA

Facebook content moderators are suffering breakdowns, paranoia and mental health issues according to a person who claims to be a moderator for the company, and who hosted an anonymous Reddit "Ask Me Anything" Monday night. The interview and questions took place a day after The Verge published an... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook and Medium are digital media’s never-ending merry-go-rounds

Time is a flat circle. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Facebook, about two years ago, launched Facebook Live and encouraged publishers to join in on the fun. And, of course, publishers did because Facebook offered a vast potential for distribution and controlled a not-insignificant amount... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2019-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Green Book’s Best Picture Win Sparked Facebook and Twitter During the 91st Academy Awards

Green Book winning the Best Picture award was the most-talked-about moment on both Twitter and Facebook during the 91st Academy Awards Sunday night. The most-tweeted-about moments during the event were: Green Book wins Best Picture Shallow wins Best Original Song Rami Malek wins Best Actor Lady... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-02-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Several apps funnel users’ sensitive data to Facebook without consent, report says

Several phone apps are sending sensitive user data, including health information, to Facebook Inc. without users’ consent, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. An analytics tool called App Events enables app developers to record user activity and report it back to Facebook even... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-22 22:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sensitive data #phone apps


Several apps funnel users’ sensitive data to Facebook without consent, report says

Several phone apps are sending sensitive user data, including health information, to Facebook Inc. without users’ consent, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. An analytics tool called App Events enables app developers to record user activity and report it back to Facebook even... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-22 22:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sensitive data #phone apps


Facebook decided which users are interested in Nazis — and let advertisers target them directly

Facebook makes money by charging advertisers to reach just the right audience for their message — even when that audience is made up of people interested in the perpetrators of the Holocaust or explicitly neo-Nazi music. Despite promises of greater oversight following past advertising... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people interested #facebook decided #advertisers target #charging advertisers #greater oversight


Facebook decided which users are interested in Nazis — and let advertisers target them directly

Facebook makes money by charging advertisers to reach just the right audience for their message — even when that audience is made up of people interested in the perpetrators of the Holocaust or explicitly neo-Nazi music. Despite promises of greater oversight following past advertising... Continue reading at Baltimore Sun

[ Baltimore Sun | 2019-02-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #people interested #facebook decided #advertisers target #charging advertisers #greater oversight


Video Briefing: Beware, Facebook Watch publishers, the subsidies will not last

Facebook is still paying for Facebook Watch shows. But the company is increasingly talking about Watch content that can be supported entirely by sharing ad revenue. The post Video Briefing: Beware, Facebook Watch publishers, the subsidies will not last appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2019-02-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook needs regulation as Zuckerberg 'fails' - UK MPs

The House of Commons publishes its report into fake news with some strong criticism of Facebook. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2019-02-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Roger McNamee: ‘It’s bigger than Facebook. This is a problem with the entire industry’

Mark Zuckerberg’s mentor and an early investor in Facebook on why his book Zucked urges people to turn away from big tech’s toxic business modelRoger McNamee is an American fund manager and venture capitalist who has made investments in, among others, Electronic Arts, Sybase, Palm Inc and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-02-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #early investor #big tech #venture capitalist #electronic arts #successful eventually


Facebook tests empowering publishers to deliver ads to Watch

Facebook wants to be friendlier to TV networks and digital media publishers who have shows on Watch by giving these partners the ability to sell ads through their own ad technology, according to advertising and technology executives with knowledge of the initiative.The social media giant is... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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