News faces a conflict of interest
About five months ago, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" reportedly installed Starbucks wallpaper in its green room.
Why?
Because - as anyone who watches the show knows - the coffee company sponsors Joe Scarborough's sometimes-contentious, almost-always-political morning show. They provide free coffee - served in Starbucks cups, of course - to the hosts. And now there's "Gold Coast Blend®: Morning Joe Edition," specially formulated for those of you who've always wanted a drinkable version of your favorite morning show.
Of course, this sort of sponsorship isn't unique. Bond giant PIMCO and brokerage house Charles Schwab have attached their names to segments on CNBC. And Cisco is now advertising on the Rachel Maddow show by noting that some guests appear "Live via Cisco TelePresence."
Commercials, certainly, are not new to news shows. But there is something vaguely disturbing about integrating corporate logos into newscasts in 2010. What if Rachel Maddow wanted to report on Cisco? Or CNBC detected corruption within the ranks of Charles Schwab? Would they hesitate to expose those who make their shows possible?
It's a question that - to say the least - makes me uncomfortable.
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About the author
Kara Miller is an Assistant Professor of English, specializing in journalism, at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. She also serves as a guest panelist on WGBH-TV's “Beat the Press” and contributes to 89.7 FM WGBH (NPR). More »Recent blog posts
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