Just when you think Fairfax/Stuff.co.nz cannot get any worse....

Forums › Off topic › Just when you think Fairfax/Stuff.co.nz cannot get any worse....

Lias

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#168519 17-Mar-2015 09:04

Latest News Headline is a sponsored advertorial for flea products.

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup. Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

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#1260771 17-Mar-2015 09:22

Yesterday I got a BREAKING NEWS push alert to my phone from Stuff... Of course I opened it - after all, it's the first breaking new push alert I had seen. I thought perhaps there had been some big news... A volcano erupting in Auckland perhaps, Cyclone Pam ripping an island rought out of the sea, or perhaps an assassination of the last real journalist in New Zealand?

No.

A thousand times no.

"BREAKING NEWS: X Factor judges Natalia Kills, Willy Moon sacked - more details soon"

I turned off push alerts, because I'm confident it won't be long before we get something like...

"BREAKING NEWS: Briscoes sale this weekend. 30-60% off kitchen appliances! - More details soon"

N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

timmmay

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#1260772 17-Mar-2015 09:23

That's not what the story is about at all. Did you even read it? "A New York real estate scion will face a murder charge over a friend's death after a documentary aired which appeared to show him confessing to the crime."

Talkiet

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#1260778 17-Mar-2015 09:26

timmmay: That's not what the story is about at all. Did you even read it? "A New York real estate scion will face a murder charge over a friend's death after a documentary aired which appeared to show him confessing to the crime."

Did you miss the section below the photo, labelled "latest news headlines"?

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

timmmay

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#1260780 17-Mar-2015 09:28

Talkiet:
timmmay: That's not what the story is about at all. Did you even read it? "A New York real estate scion will face a murder charge over a friend's death after a documentary aired which appeared to show him confessing to the crime."

Did you miss the section below the photo, labelled "latest news headlines"?

I assumed they were referring to the actual news headline, not the small section that's labeled headlines. I see the point now, but still, one small line in the middle of a busy page, who really cares.

MikeB4

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#1260786 17-Mar-2015 09:36

It shows under life style on mine

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

MikeB4

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#1260787 17-Mar-2015 09:41

These have been done for years in printed news papers the were called "Reader Advertisements" they were required to have at the top the "Advertisement". Online News Media have just continued this with "sponsored" articles.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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jonathan18

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#1260938 17-Mar-2015 11:54

KiwiNZ: These have been done for years in printed news papers the were called "Reader Advertisements" they were required to have at the top the "Advertisement". Online News Media have just continued this with "sponsored" articles.

While there are similarities to the old ways you refer to, the new approaches by media companies to push advertising as news are far more insidious and dodgy, so it's not a case of 'just continued...'.

There's been good coverage on this move on a variety of Nat Rad programmes, notably Media Watch and Katherine Ryan's discussions with Gavin Ellis (ex editor of the NZH), the latter being either last week or the week before.

The primary change is that the line between 'news' and 'advertising' in the written media is (as elsewhere) getting increasingly blurred as media companies find ways to cope with falling sales and revenue.

The two big "newspaper" companies (Fairfax and NZME) now have specialist teams to schmoze up to businesses and develop and publish content that is little more than advertising. The attempts to differentiate this content is often minimal and can easily be missed. This is clearly a deliberate ploy. For example, check out the Herald's 'Brand Insight' section, included on the front page (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/). Apart from the 'What's this?' in small pale grey lettering (which leads to some information as to the commerical origins of the 'stories'), these items have the impression of normal articles.

One such item I reported to Media Watch last year was astounding - not only did it have NIL mention of its commerical origins, it even included the contact details for prospective owners (franchising opportunities with a courier company).

I understand that much of what is published in newspapers and on news websites is little more than re-hashed press releases (sometimes not even re-hashed, but printed word-for-word), but these recent moves have moved us even further down that slippery slope...

Geektastic

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#1260989 17-Mar-2015 12:43

Lias: Latest News Headline is a sponsored advertorial for flea products.

Believe me, I never thought that...!

Eve the TV news is like kids playing at journalism school in a fake TV studio...

rendezvous

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#1260995 17-Mar-2015 12:48

There was a bit about native advertising (sponsored stories) on Last Week Tonight recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_F5GxCwizc

NSFW - language
This video contains coarse language, but it explains how stupid it is.

heylinb4nz

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#1261077 17-Mar-2015 14:06

I'm currently getting Aliexpress advertising in my targeting advertising panels (due to the fact I visit it frequently) on any websites I visit. I've been researching various IT topics this week and have adverts on side of page showing scantly clad asian girls in sexy lingerie, not that i'm complaining.

Geektastic

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#1261189 17-Mar-2015 17:03

Talkiet: Yesterday I got a BREAKING NEWS push alert to my phone from Stuff... Of course I opened it - after all, it's the first breaking new push alert I had seen. I thought perhaps there had been some big news... A volcano erupting in Auckland perhaps, Cyclone Pam ripping an island rought out of the sea, or perhaps an assassination of the last real journalist in New Zealand?

No.

A thousand times no.

"BREAKING NEWS: X Factor judges Natalia Kills, Willy Moon sacked - more details soon"

I turned off push alerts, because I'm confident it won't be long before we get something like...

"BREAKING NEWS: Briscoes sale this weekend. 30-60% off kitchen appliances! - More details soon"

N

Breaking news...cat up a tree in Dunedin...more soon.

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

Geektastic

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#1261190 17-Mar-2015 17:04

heylinb4nz: I'm currently getting Aliexpress advertising in my targeting advertising panels (due to the fact I visit it frequently) on any websites I visit. I've been researching various IT topics this week and have adverts on side of page showing scantly clad asian girls in sexy lingerie, not that i'm complaining.

I find AdBlock is the only way to view the web in any form of sanity.

JimmyH

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#1261919 18-Mar-2015 19:44

I just remain astonished that people still mistake stuff.co.nz for a bona fide news site.

floydbloke

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#1460118 2-Jan-2016 11:47

...and today's front-page news......
.....someone has lost a cat

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

stocksp

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#1460122 2-Jan-2016 12:05

Geektastic:
Talkiet: Yesterday I got a BREAKING NEWS push alert to my phone from Stuff... Of course I opened it - after all, it's the first breaking new push alert I had seen. I thought perhaps there had been some big news... A volcano erupting in Auckland perhaps, Cyclone Pam ripping an island rought out of the sea, or perhaps an assassination of the last real journalist in New Zealand?

No.

A thousand times no.

"BREAKING NEWS: X Factor judges Natalia Kills, Willy Moon sacked - more details soon"

I turned off push alerts, because I'm confident it won't be long before we get something like...

"BREAKING NEWS: Briscoes sale this weekend. 30-60% off kitchen appliances! - More details soon"

N

Breaking news...cat up a tree in Dunedin...more soon.

Breaking news, lost cat ......

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