Advertisers are no longer simply buying real estate to sell their products; they are acting as sort of beneficent patrons of journalism. Here we can see the stirrings of something far worse. It has become commonplace for journalistic organizations to recruit corporations and foundations as launch sponsors. Advertisers bankroll the debut of new journalistic products. One reason that an advertiser might play this role is perfectly harmless—it’s good exposure. But there’s another, more pernicious reason that they pay—the advertiser gets to play an opaque role in shaping the editorial product.
