Evening Standard readers have no idea that its ‘news reporting’ is actually paid advertising for Uber
Evening Standard readers have no idea that part of its ‘news reporting’ is actually advertising, which Uber paid for.
In May 2018, openDemocracy revealed that Uber is part of a £3m deal with the Evening Standard, promising ‘money-can’t-buy’ coverage.
Now, the free London daily, which former Tory chancellor George Osborne edits, has published a gushing interview with Uber’s chief executive. And the Evening Standard did not clearly show that Uber is paying the paper for positive coverage.
Advertising dressed up as news
The ‘article‘ describes Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi as:
gentle, unassuming, with a clerical calm and a clean-cut CV.
The Evening Standard may have broken regulations here. The advertising code says that readers must clearly be able to identify paid-for corporate advertising dressed up as news. There are four key points, and it looks like Osborne’s paper has broken all of them. A senior staff journalist at the Evening Standard told openDemocracy: “I would have expected this interview to at least have stated somewhere ‘In Association With Uber'”.
openDemocracy also detailed the paper changing its response:
Read on...
The Standard initially claimed there was full ‘transparency’ over Uber’s role in Future London, then a day later claimed ‘edition pressures’ had led to the absence of any mention of the financial tie-up in over 400,000 copies. An executive spokesman said the sentence was added at the first ‘opportunity’ and was present on more than half a million copies of the free paper and had not been added earlier.
“Mouthpiece of the Conservative party”
Previously, ESI Media (the Standard‘s publisher) has denied breaking editorial commitments and offering ‘money-can’t-buy’ coverage.
But the Media Reform Coalition has accused the Evening Standard of acting as a “mouthpiece of the Conservative party”. And that’s before a former Conservative chancellor edited the paper. Now, it looks like the outlet has cut out the middleman and become an outright mouthpiece for multinational corporations. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google, Goldman Sachs, and other usual suspects are the big money behind Uber.
Presenting corporate advertising as news is about as low as a paper can go.
Get Involved!
– The Canary actively invites its readers to question everything they read. So please follow the links we reference. And always search for more information if unsure. But if you believe in the importance of independent, grassroots media in the fight against corporate propaganda, please consider supporting us.
– There are also many other new media organisations working to deliver news, analysis, and opinion in a more independent and ethical way. Please support them too:
Media Diversified, Novara Media, Corporate Watch, Common Space, Media Lens, Another Angry Voice, Bella Caledonia, Vox Political, Evolve Politics, Real Media, Red Pepper, Reel News, ROAR, STRIKE! magazine, The Bristol Cable, Manchester Mule, Salford Star.
Featured image via logos
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
