A public meeting has been scheduled to unveil early details on the project, for which no application has yet been submitted to the City of Rockville. The meeting will be held next Thursday, May 11, at 7:00 PM in the Buchanan Room of VisArts at Rockville Town Square, which is located at 155 Gibbs Street.
Robert,
ReplyDeleteI am a follower of your excellent blog. I am however concerned about the above post, "Change is permanent in Rockville's town center [Sponsored]." First, you turned off comments, which is why I'm commenting here. Please address the following questions:
1.) Who (person/company) "sponsored" the subject post?
2.) Did you solicit them or did they solicit you?
3.) How much were you paid for this piece?
4.) Did you write it or did someone else write it?
5.) Whose idea was it to turn off comments?
6.) Do you plan to feature more "sponsored" posts?
7.) Are you concerned that some of your readers might be turned off by "sponsored" posts as they may be viewed as potentially compromising your objectivity?
Thank you for your responses.
I didn't read through the entire post (commercial)... I see that the sponsor is Artisan Movers... Please answer the remaining questions. Thank you.
DeleteIt's a bad sign when readers stop reading the ad before they even see the name of the advertiser. Ads are supposed to be brief and eye-catching, not verbose, and are not supposed to "bury the lede".
Delete6:38: I appreciate you taking time to post your feedback and concerns. As you know, Artisan Movers sponsored the post. It clearly states that at the bottom, and the article is clearly labeled as Sponsored.
DeleteQuestions 2 & 3 I can't answer, because that is not public information. It's an agreement between 2 private businesses, as with any advertisement. You can see a list of current ad rates in the upper right hand corner of the right panel here.
4. As it states in the byline, I wrote it, and applied the same quality standards I apply to all content.
5. I turned off comments because I have a fellow from a competing website who likes to post troll comments. You can see he's already posted a couple of comments here, in his ongoing audition to play Charlie Brown's teacher..."Wa wa, wa wawa wa."
6. I will gladly feature more if advertisers would like to buy them. It's a great way for Rockville residents to be able to find and support Rockville-based businesses like Artisan Movers. You'll notice the glossy local magazines tend to feature only national brands and chains in their advertising, because they don't support local small businesses.
7. I am aware that some people do not like sponsored content. But on the other hand, there are significant costs to producing the content and reporting on this website. The more revenue I can generate, the more the website and coverage can improve.
As far as "compromising my objectivity," I think anyone who has read Rockville Nights vs. the paltry other options for news in Montgomery County is already very aware that I am providing not only the most accurate news, but that I am bringing the Rockville resident's perspective to the news - not the developer's perspective you will find on other fake news sites.
8:46: Hello, troll. As 10:12 correctly points out, native advertising is not like a banner ad. A sponsored content article is article-length. You have to have compelling content, however, and the statistics for yesterday's sponsored content indicate readers did find it compelling. It had more readers than the real news article earlier in the morning.
DeleteInteresting sponsored content is a win for the advertiser and the reader.
It's Anonymous May 3, 2017 at 6:38 PM again,
DeleteBob, Thanks for your responses. I have no doubt that this (and your other(s)) are a lot of work. If getting some minor compensation helps... so be it. I'm sure that it can't be a lot.
As far as "Charlie Brown's teacher..."Wa wa, wa wawa wa," was that his teacher, parents or just anyone over the age of 8.
Keep up the good work!
Regular readers don't have a problem with relevant advertising, such as this.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting read...branded content isn't supposed to just hit you over the head with the advertiser.