AKEED, Aya Khawaldeh

"News That Interests You," "Read Also," and other headlines appear on many websites, while, in fact, they are commercial advertisements being promoted as news. This is an unprofessional practice that misleads readers.

Some websites have grouped a number of news stories and commercial advertisements under one section without separating them. This made readers fall into the trap of commercial promotion, thinking that these are news stories.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor "AKEED" has followed a number of news sites and monitored a number of sections that are devoted to combining news stories with commercial advertisements, mostly known as "Google Ads."

Media outlets may publish paid advertisements provided that they explicitly state that these are advertisements, according to the Press Code of Honor.

These sections have different names, such as: Articles You Might Like, Read Also, You Might Also Like These Topics, Topics That You Might Like, and You Might Like This. As soon as you read any story, the website will take you to the section that offers commercial advertisements, in addition to some news and other editorial material. Most of these advertisements are repeated and focus on getting a U.S. green card, promoting electronic devices and mobile phones, and opportunities for immigration or international forex trading. However, they are posted in the form of news and videos.

Websites are provided with these advertisements through Postquare, which is a digital content recommendation and advertising platform. As stated on its official page, the platform seeks to raise the income of websites through advertisement campaigns and increase their browsing.

Iyad Hamam, production manager at Aramram website, told AKEED that all media outlets must make a distinction between news and advertisements so as not to mislead readers with provocative or intriguing headlines, as is the case in many of them. He pointed out that many websites seek to make profit and achieve gains. This prevents them from placing these advertisements in a special section as this will reduce chances of clicking on them and viewing them.  

Mohammed Hawamdeh, chief editor of Khaberni, told AKEED that international advertisement sites request certain space in return for an amount of money. They send advertisements to the site and control the nature of the headlines and content. The site filters and bans the publishing of ads on cigarettes, alcoholic drinks, pornography sites, or dating sites. He said that these ads generate money, which helps pay part of the cost.

Hawamdeh does not think that publishing these ads is a violation in terms of confusing them with news. Each ad contains the name of the original site at the bottom of the picture, which indicates that clicking on the ad will take the reader to the page of the advertiser, and not a news site. As for news posted in the same section, it concerns stories that are most read and that the site is suggesting accordingly. These stories are not selected by the site; they are distributed electronically.

Hawamdeh noted that there is advertisement space reserved for commercial advertisements and others. Sometimes, these parties promote their activities by publishing statements about issues that concern them. The site states that this is a statement issued by the advertising party, and not a report produced by it.

The AKEED Monitor had previously published a report about these violations. The Monitor also developed indicators for measuring confusing news with advertisements. These indicators, which clarify how news value has turned into advertising material, are the following:

- Weakness of news value in editorial material.

- Elaborating on news content without providing real substance.

-  Giving prominence to press material by using pictures, layout, colors, and type and size of font.

- Promoting economic figures.

- Using headlines in an exaggerated manner for a subject that contains ordinary information.

- Confining the story to one person or one company when the service is provided by another party.

- Exaggerating the importance of some parties to the story and giving them a certain perspective when the subject is about matters that are not worth publishing. Certainly, there is an advertiser behind it or moral or material value.  

Publishing advertisements in media outlets as editorial material would confuse readers who are unable to distinguish material published in the press to promote a certain product or official from news material, which should be based on facts and accuracy in publishing.

Do Media Outlets Have the Right To Infringe on People"s Right To Know?

One form of infringing on people"s right is lack of clarity in the media message. This includes confusing news with advertisements. Advertisements must be clearly separated from editorial material in the press or in any other media outlets. However, if an advertisement is part of the content of the same material and is linked to it, it must be clearly marked off and it must be published in a prominent place to indicate that it is an advertisement. This should be done through the use of clear formats because such advertisements promote commodities and market items, persons, or institutions.

Going back to the Code of Honor of the Jordan Press Association, it states in Article 17 that advertisements may not be confused with editorial material and that opinion must be clearly distinguished from advertisement. Readers may not be exposed to political views or ideas or propaganda in the form of editorial material. In this context, the following has to be observed:

• Advertisement is a social service whose function is to promote products that benefit consumers. This promotion does not require lying and deception. Publishers must verify facts and figures in it.
• Political advertisements by foreign entities may not be published except after ascertaining that they agree with national policy. The fees for these advertisements must be consistent with declared prices so that advertisements would not turn into indirect assistance by a foreign country.
• Journalists must not sign off on advertisements in order to prevent advertisers from taking advantage of their status or moral influence.
• Advertising material (editorial or otherwise) must explicitly state that it is advertisement.