Dive Brief:
- In a sign of the times, the Associated Press has made the move to add sponsored content to its digital advertising arsenal.
- It’s unclear how the AP will maintain an editorial firewall between its international reporting and the native advertising content it will produce, although Paul Caluori, AP’s global director of digital services, told the International Business Times the sponsored content would be handled by a “small agency within the AP, and the work is obviously not done by AP’s reporters.”
- According to Caluori, the new advertising unit comes out of its in-house business "AP Assignments," which is more a photography and video shop than an ad agency shop.
Dive Insight:
The lines between straight journalism and marketing have been blurring for quite some time so this move by the Associated Press isn’t unexpected. That said, the AP is one the few remaining brands that indicate whatever is reported is coming from a journalist, and likely from the field. The IBT reported that the AP is losing subscribers, and at the same time, it recognized its smaller clients didn’t have the resources to create sponsored content, which has become a very high value marketing asset.
Caluori explained to the IBT, "We’re hoping to be able to make native advertising available for smaller members who can’t afford to make this stuff or could spend that kind of money. As you spread it across the membership, you become more attractive to agencies representing."
The goal, as Caluori explained, is to better help its members in more ways.