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In Class: Go Native or Not? Business vs. Editorial
The decision to include native advertising as a news publication business strategy is complex – and there may be no right answer!
Advanced
What is news for?; VITA; Blurred Lines; News as promotion
Objectives:
After having completed this activity, students should:
- Understand the complexities of native advertising practices in news publications
- Consider the negotiations that news organizations much make as they implement native advertising
- Consider the implications native advertising has for a news organizations – both financial and reputational
- Articulate their own position on native advertising and its implications for the public
Steps
- Divide students into two sides: business executives vs. editors and journalists.
Teacher’s Note
- It is best to assign at random so that students who disagree with their official position must think more critically about the argument of the opposing viewpoint.
Pre-debate discussion
- Do you think it is okay for news organizations to create ads?
- Does the business case for this kind of content justify the potential downsides?
- Was this one done well from a consumer responsibility and trust standpoint?
Instructions to students
You are a small newsroom in a small town or village [best to use a local example for context] and your budget is shrinking. The business side of the publication wants native advertising to be a larger part of the content delivered to audiences while editors and journalists are resistant.
I [teacher] am your publisher and the person who will decide whether or not to pursue native advertising. I will consider your arguments, which should be based on what you have learned about the pros and cons of native advertising in news, and I will determine who won the debate and whether or not we will go native.
Each team gets 10 minutes to craft their arguments to support the given position.
At this time, you should also think about some of the counter arguments you expect to hear from the other side so that you can be ready to defend in round 2
ROUND 1: Each team has 5 minutes to argue their position
Teams have 5 minutes to consult on how to counter the other team’s position
ROUND 2: Each team has 5 minutes to counter the arguments made by the other side in round 1
ROUND 3: Each team has 3 minutes to respond to the other team’s counter arguments
