Ad Standards for Newspapers?

“Several wondered if the ad met the Star Tribune’s standards for acceptable advertising or if it was a mistake.” – Kate Parry, Star Tribune’s ombudsman

Here’s our panel’s reaction to the issue:

  • Snarky Garrick: “Until readers directly provide the Strib with enough revenue that advertising isn’t needed, their complaints should go in the recycling bin with the paper itself.”
  • Intrigued Garrick: “I doubt either answer will satisfy those that asked.”
  • Media Mogul Garrick: “Send me the names and contact info of the people with complaints, I have a few other brands I’d like to expose them to.”

RELATED:

“What confuses people is that ABC News logo screaming “official journalism!” – Chuck Olsen

Nope. Didn’t confuse me.

Of all the parties involved, the only person I might sometimes expect hard-question-asking “official journalism” from is…not Amanda Congdon, not ABC News, and not DuPont…but Chuck Olsen himself.

Advertising on the other hand is a completely different topic. I expect it from everyone I’ve listed above and I prefer Chuck’s.

Still Lusing

“I’m thinking that there is something inherently subordinate to the term ‘user'” – Prof Mary Wong. via Doc Searls

The term “user” has bugged me since I worked at “HannaHodge: User Experience Architects” 8 years back.

A couple Octobers back, in First Crack #2 [mp3], I declared “There are no users”.

“‘User’ is a term from the system perspective…it most accurately describes someone that has no effect on a media…this may have been accurate for the long slow feedback loops of last century’s media….”

There’s Lots of ‘Un-Interviews’ here ;)

“I listened to a fascinating interview on the radio the other day. What made it fascinating was that the interviewer’s voice, and questions, had been entirely edited out. What you heard was a very eloquent explanation of a difficult topic, in which the questions were tacit, unheard. Compared to most radio articles, op-eds and even interviews, this spot was tight, engaging and informative. I dubbed it (in the spirit of the term Un-Conference) an Un-Interview.” – Dave Pollard, blogs.salon.com