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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Facebook wants to make your breakup less awkward

Facebook wants to help ease the burn of a breakup.The social media giant introduced new tools Thursday on its mobile app to help users see less of their exes.Now when you change your relationship status to “single,” Facebook will ask if you want to “take a break” from seeing pictures and posts... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, And "Fast Company": Six Cover Stories (So Far)

Eight years ago, we featured the 22-year-old creator of a site with 19 million users. 1.5 billion members later, the adventure continues.In early 2007, Fast Company senior writer Ellen McGirt got a rush assignment from the magazine's editor, Bob Safian. Both were newcomers to the publication,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #mark zuckerberg #fast company #cover stories #recently decamped #silicon valley


Lessons from Seattle’s Failed Bid to Rebrand its Public Library

Rebranding efforts in libraries are not uncommon, but a recent, ill-fated bid to rebrand the Seattle Public Library generated a public controversy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #public library #ill-fated bid


Facebook's Virtual Reality-Style Ads Are Here With Big Brands on Board

If you were wondering what Facebook's $2 billion Oculus Rift might mean for advertisers, we may have just been given a sneak peek. Today, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company debuted the first virtual reality-style video ads for AT&T, Nestle, Mondelez and Samsung, among others. In... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #360-degree videos #small step #oculus rift #company revealed


Dawson and Rowell at World Book Day's first live Teen Fest

World Book Day will host its first live Teen Fest as part of next year’s celebrations, featuring authors James Dawson and Rainbow Rowell, and will also attempt to break its first Guinness World Record. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #rainbow rowell


See the First 360-Degree Video Ads on Facebook

"360-degree marketing" has been an industry buzzword for years, but what about 360-degree advertising?Facebook is starting to test 360-degree video ads with a handful of brands including AT&T, Samsung and Nestle, all of which can be seen below. Facebook officially introduced the virtual... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #desktop site #android apps


Facebook Launches Notify, a New Twitter-Like App for Following Publishers

Facebook is already dominating peoples’ phone time, and now it wants a crack at your lock screen, too. The social network rolled out a new app called “Notify” on Wednesday specifically to send you mobile notifications fr ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook launches Notify, its news-centric notifications app

Facebook's Notify is here. Think Apple News + Twitter = Facebook Notify. The news-centric stand alone app lets users receive news alerts on their lock screens from a menu of topics and publishers. Facebook says this is supplemental to its News Feed because people want multiple ways to get... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #multiple ways #ios users


Facebook Debuts a New Push-Minded App for Publishers Called Notify

Facebook wants to become a one-stop shop for breaking news while giving media brands more mobile channels to reach viewers. The social media giant today launched Notify, an app curating push notifications from dozens of publishers and other media sources all into one place: your iPhone's lock... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #menlo park #movie trailers #latest addition #flagship brand #mark zuckerberg


The President of the United States Now Has an Official Facebook Page

Early Monday afternoon, President Barack Obama debuted an official Facebook page for the Oval Office. Obama's first post entailed a message about climate change, with a video in which he gives a brief tour of the White House backyard and tells listeners that a fox and a hawk regularly roam the... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Snapchat getting 6 billion video views daily, but how does it compare to Facebook's 8 billion?

Days after Facebook announced that its users watched videos 8 billion times a day,  Snapchat told the Financial Times on Sunday that its smaller set of users opened videos 6 billion times a day. See the most-read stories this hour >> The statistics reveal fast growth: Since the spring,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-11-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's Traffic to Top Publishers Fell 32 Percent Since January

While Facebook makes headlines for cooking up new initiatives with publishers, the actual traffic it’s sending those publishers has fallen sharply.   Referral traffic (desktop + mobile) to the top 30 Facebook publishers (as defined by ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eight lessons for publishing start-ups

September Publishing founder Hannah MacDonald offers eight essential learnings from the company's first year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Review: The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell

The Penguin Lessons is a warm and unique story about an unlikely friendship between a man and a penguin, and fond memories of a long-ago trip to South America. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #unique story #fond memories #south america


Please don't air brush African teen fiction

Ellen Banda-Aaku has long battled with her African publishers to make her teen/YA books ‘suitable’ enough to print. Now she’s started to stand her ground for the sake of her teenager readers – and risks not being published at allPlus find out about #ProjectKala, a campaign to promote reading in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With shopping data, Skimlinks gives publishers a new way to take on Facebook

When it comes to competing for digital ad dollars, it's hard for publishers to beat the ad-targeting prowess of Facebook and Google. E-commerce company Skimlinks is trying to level the playing field by selling audience buying behavior data that it collects from its publisher clients. Among the... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook appeared #playing field #publisher clients


Irish author Louise O'Neill on her controversial novel Asking For It

The bit in her book that readers are reacting to the most, says Louise O'Neill, is not the gang rape. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2015-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wendy's Is Making Snapchat-Like Mobile Ads on Facebook

Brands are just starting to play with Facebook's full-screen mobile ads, but Wendy's social marketers already seem to be having lots of fun with the new format. The fast-food chain is running a campaign that uses a combination of photos, videos and GIFs to show how each layer of its hamburgers... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More and more people are coming out on Facebook

Timed to coincide with Spirit Day, Facebook's Research and Data Science division has published a report outlining how increasing numbers of US users that identify as lesbian, gay, bi or transexual have come out on the social network this year. "Not... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Eye Facebook as YouTube Rival

Facebook is moving into YouTube’s turf, and that could be good for video publishers.     Facebook announced earlier this week that it’s testing a new video section on its mobile app, which would ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #youtube rival #video section #mobile app