Brand journalism is as old as time itself, but how it is identified for public audiences is more important than ever.

Today, branded content is specific and has become deeply embedded in multiple publications on all conceivable platforms. There are some useful perspectives shown, along with advertorial flourishes that may be debatable. Whatever.

At the National NewsMedia Council, which is charged by its members to defend ethical journalistic practices, we see nothing wrong in most of this stuff provided that the branded articles are properly and clearly identified by being wholly separate from regular editorial news content. Members of our council take a very dim view of any slippage in this area if this is not done properly.

It can get more complicated if the signposts — dramatically different typefaces, for example, or boxed explanations on how editorial matter was commissioned — are indistinct or non-existent. This is something I definitely know about.

Read the full article on Medium.