![]() ![]() Robert Safian, editor of Fast Company, sent a statement: “No editors or other leadership at Fast Company were ever contacted in regard to this story. Other times, he’ll just praise a certain aspect of the company’s business to support a point in an otherwise unrelated story. To make the references seem natural, he said, he often links to case studies and how-to guides published by the startup on its own site. One of them, a contributor to Fast Company and other outlets who asked not to be identified by name, described how he had inserted references to a well-known startup that offers email marketing software into multiple online articles, in Fast Company and elsewhere, on behalf of a marketing agency he declined to name. ![]() We value our readers’ trust above all, and will always work to ensure that they’re getting unbiased information from people who have their best interests in mind.” In the past, when alerted to people selling access on our site, I’ve even gone the extra step of alerting editors at other publications where that person writes, so that these bad actors have nowhere else to go. We have a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of thing, our writer’s guidelines strictly prohibit it, and we take swift action. I encourage people to do this right now-my inbox is always open, as our my colleagues'. Mario Ruiz, a spokesperson for Business Insider, said in an email that “ Business Insider has a strict policy that prohibits any of our writers, whether full-time staffers or contributors, from accepting payment of any kind in exchange for coverage.” Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur, said in an email, “I often tell entrepreneurs that if they want to get the ear of an editor, there’s no better way than to do this: Find someone who’s selling coverage on a reputable site, and rat them out. Two of the writers acknowledged they have taken part in the scheme for years, on behalf of many brands. People involved with the payoffs are extremely reluctant to discuss them, but four contributing writers to prominent publications including Mashable, Inc, Business Insider, and Entrepreneur told me they have personally accepted payments in exchange for weaving promotional references to brands into their work on those sites. Interviews with more than two dozen marketers, journalists, and others familiar with similar pay-for-play offers revealed a dubious corner of online publishing in which publicists, ranging from individuals like Satyam to medium-sized “digital marketing firms” that blur traditional lines between advertising and public relations, quietly pay off journalists to promote their clients in articles that make no mention of the financial arrangement. “Organic press is far more effective and anyone with a brain can see through them.”īut solicitations like Satyam’s may be more successful than Biggs is aware. He estimates that he receives two or three similar offers each month, and he doesn’t take them seriously. It was a bold opening move, and an unethical proposition for any journalist who wants to retain their credibility. He was looking for coverage of some clients, he said, and he was willing to pay Biggs to write about them. When Biggs accepted the request, Satyam introduced himself as a marketer for technology startups. In late October, TechCrunch editor-at-large John Biggs noticed a Facebook Messenger request from someone he didn’t know, a man named Varun Satyam.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |