February 11th, 2004
A Sponsor's Product Appears on a CNN Segment, and Some see a Weaker News-Advertising Division
By Stuart Elliott
The New York Times
The appearance on camera of a sponsor’s product in a recent segment of the ‘’American Morning’’ news show on CNN was accidental and unintentional, CNN says. But the glimpse of a package of Total cereal opened the network to complaints about the blurring of the lines between advertising and editorial content.
’’The news should not be for sale to the highest bidder,’’ said Gary Ruskin, executive director for Commercial Alert in Portland, Ore., an organization that fights what its members consider to be the creeping commercialization of American culture.