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WIN News hitches sponsorship to news items

News items sponsored by commercial companies sets a dangerous precedent, says one industry expert.

It’s a tough game in regional news, with recent reports of staff cutbacks by broadcasters and revenue challenges.

But WIN News has more recently been creative in publishing select news items in Facebook with an advertiser sponsorship.

“WIN News Story Thanks to Harvey Norman,” an Illawarra post in June announced.

“John Travolta and his famous Qantas Boeing 707 are due to touchdown in the Illawarra before the year end.

“Sponsored by Harvey Norman’s Dyson V11 Absolute cordless vacuum available in-store now! The best in its class & with limited stock – Take the Dyson V11 Absolute for a test drive Harvey Norman store” with an accompanying link and Harvey Norman hashtags. A video carries the retailer’s logo on a watermark throughout.

This week it was “Nowra Fire Station 405 has taken the 3rd place at the NSW Regional Firefighter Championships. Sponsored by Jackbelt. Give your father a day with a genuine leather dress belt! He’ll love the unique designs and buckles that fit any size. Shop the range etc.”

In July another on Expanded Polystyrene Australia apologising for an environmental crisis of “waffle pods” at Wongawilli was sponsored by Platinum Solar Designs.

While it has only been applied to a small number of news posts, it is anecdotally indicative of how tough regional broadcasters are doing it.

But is it also a sign of things to come where even more news stories are directly sponsored? And how might it compromise editorial independence?

Steve Carey of NewsFlash Media, a former Seven News director, said while news services do a great job on limited budgets, it sets a dangerous precedent.

“News is supposed to be entirely independent and free of influence. So, what happens when one of these “sponsors” falls foul of the media outlet which is being paid to broadcast its brand ?

“I’ve always fought for news to be totally independent and above reproach… Yes, budgets are tight but this is not the way to go in my view because it breaks the trust of the audience. And apart from anything else it’s a distraction.

“In the past, the reason advertisers have wanted to associate with news media is because news bring credibility and trust to any brand. It should not be given away so lightly in my view. And I hope it is not a sign of things to come because it blurs the line between what’s an advert and what is hard news.”

WIN TV did not respond to enquiries.

4 Responses

  1. As a tv viewer from Tassie I gave up watching the network just for H50 a year ago. Their constant advertising of viewers to watch WIN news every ad break. Their watermarks are bigger than anyone elses why do we need to be coloured? And now product endorsement advertising on FB seriously. No wonder 7 Tas have massive numbers on their news. Not to mention poor picture quality and the audio is terrible does it really need to be loud?

    What’s next their outfits will contain advertisements on them

  2. At least that’s transparent – how much money is changing hand with supposed news stories on whatever Coles, Woolworths and Aldi are up to each week.

    Note how there are never any commercial news stories about IGA!!

  3. What’s even more annoying are the ads on the Win News Facebook page that don’t even have a News story attached. Totally devalues the integrity of Win News when their page is being used simply to run ads for clients. Completely unprofessional in my opinion.

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