The influence of advertisers on editorial content

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Communications - Public Relations Advertising Marketing Social Media grade: Distinction Macquarie University course: ICOM 891 Communication Research Methodologies language: English abstract: There are cases when commercial pressure on editors becomes very obvious; especially when it fails to succeed and becomes publicly known. This could either be because the advertiser not only threatens to but actually does withdraw its advertising from a newspaper as reaction to unwanted content or because information about business agreements between client and newspaper leaks out to the public. Both incidents of exercising influence on editors were observable at the Los Angeles Times a daily newspaper in South California USA. In contrast to quantitative surveys this research will illustrate the influence of commercial pressure on newspapers using the L.A. Times as a particular case study.