Michael Kennedy: If it’s advertising, Bee should label it properly
In the July 10 Bee, I was happily reading along until I got to Page 7A and saw, among similar things, “Never underestimate the power of prayer. God is amazing!” and similar religious headlines disguised as news. To my amazement, nowhere on the page did it indicate this was an advertisement. Some readers will be, as I was, stunned that The Bee would be reporting news headlines proclaiming religious beliefs.
If this keeps up, I will not be surprised to see The Bee post articles such as “Never underestimate the power of The Great Pumpkin. God is great!” Is it poor journalism to lead your readers to believe, even if it is for a few seconds, that a paid advertisement is news? Somebody at The Bee goofed. Please don’t make this mistake again. I don’t buy The Bee to read paid ads masquerading as credible news.
Michael Kennedy, Oakdale
Editor’s note: When advertisements are similar to The Bee’s news content, our policy is to label them as advertising. Though the typefaces and fonts were different from The Bee’s news content, the advertisement should have been labeled.
This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Michael Kennedy: If it’s advertising, Bee should label it properly."