eWeek crosses an ethical line

Well that didn’t take very long.
Just a few weeks ago, I predicted in Folio magazine that “at least one major publisher will do something unethical this year and then try to hide behind a claim that ‘things are different online.’
Now along comes Ziff Davis, acting ridiculous, and making me look like a prophet.

Ziff Davis’ property eWeek has begun running those same IntelliTXT ads that have led to scandal elsewhere. Regular readers of this blog know that VNU committed the same sin late last year, but pulled the ads after I complained. And anyone who follows the ongoing battle over ethics in journalism knows that the staff of Forbes magazine had to fight off IntelliTXT ads back a few years ago.

Look – there is no room for argument on this issue. We have been through this time and time again. If you want to hear how repulsive I find it when a publishing company so flagrantly violates the ethical standards of our industry, you can read my earlier post about VNU. If you want to see what the ethical guidelines of ASBPE actually say about this issue, you can also find that information in my earlier post.

In the meantime, I’m going to let Matt McAlister speak for me. I first heard about the eWeek problem through a post on his blog. And he summed up my feelings perfectly when he said "media sites scrapping to maintain profits on the page view model are bottom feeding for clicks with clutter and misleading links. Instead, they should spend their resources courting relationships with readers."

Look. Everyone knows that Ziff Davis is in trouble. After nearly going bankrupt a few years ago, the company has been searching for a buyer for a year. Bidding ended a few days ago, and no sale has been announced yet. But regardless of how things turn out, it’s unlikely that Ziff Davis’ owners, private equity firm Willis Stein & Partners, will get back anything close to the $780 million they paid for the company in 1999.

Ziff Davis has had a dismal performance of late in print. But online revenue has risen. And that has given investment bank Lehman Brothers, which is advising Ziff Davis on a sale, something to push. And when you have a private equity company and an investment bank both intent on boosting online revenue in the short term to help drive the sale of the company, you’re going to wind up with some embarrassing behavior.

So let’s be reasonable – selling IntelliTXT ads isn’t going to do anything to help turn the company around. There just isn’t that much cash involved in these things. Selling IntelliTXT ads won’t even provide enough of a short-term lift to help boost the price of the company. This is an absurd and offensive practice that won’t help a troubled company.
And let’s be frank – Ziff Davis isn’t in trouble because it didn’t have IntelliTXT ads until recently. Ziff Davis is in trouble because it’s run by people who think it makes good business sense to trade their reputation, their ethics and the morale of their staff for a few pennies.

Note: I sent an email to Eric Lundquist, VP/editorial director at eWeek, several days ago. He has not responded to my request for a comment.

tags: journalism, b2b, media, trade press, magazines, newsletters, business media, advertising, newsletters, business media, journalism ethics