One in five does not differentiate between advertising and journalism

Gry NergårdOSLO .Gry Nergård (Consumer Ombudsman) Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB scanpix

It is so difficult to separate the advertising-funded texts in Norwegian newspapers from editorial content that every fifth reader does not detect the difference, according to a media survey.

– The hidden advertisements are is slick and hard to detect. We do not know if we are exposed to it or not, said Director Kjersti Loken Stavrum from Norwegian Press Association to newspaper Klassekampen.

The newspaper refers to the report “Use Diversity – an analysis of Norwegian news consumption” which news agency NTB mentioned last week.

Content Marketing is advertising outside normal advertising space that mimics journalistic styles and methods.

70 percent of survey participants said that they read the type of advertising articles in greater or lesser degree and 20 percent said they are seldom aware that content marketing is a form of advertising.

– This type of advertising is a relatively new phenomenon and it takes some time for people to capture the codes. I’m not particularly worried about the long term, said  chief editor Torry Pedersen in newspaper VG to NRK news.

The report was prepared by Trondelag Research Institute commissioned by the government’s Media Diversity.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today