Blurring the Line Between News and Commercial

Local news orgs have been criticized in the past for ocassionally embedding commercial messages into the middle of newscasts (the late Ron Fineman frequently chronicled such instances on his website).

But I can't remember seeing anything as blatant as this: KCBS morning traffic reporter Vera Jimenez is busy chronicling the mess this morning on the 405, which was partly closed in the Sepulveda Pass due to brush fires. After spending a few serious minutes discussing the traffic snarls, Jimenez suddenly brings up her recent test drive of a Lincoln MKS (not so coincidentally, KCBS' morning traffic coverage is sponsored by SoCal Lincoln dealers, whose screen bug remains on the lower left-hand corner throughout). Cut to video of Vera, hanging out inside the vehicle and extolling the virtues of the car. Then cut to weather.

Granted, Vera's not a regular reporter, but covers traffic for the station. Nonetheless, this kind of mid-newscast ad placement, featuring a station's on-air traffic reporter, is bound to give journalism purists a heart attack.

I asked a KCBS insider about the spot, and they admitted that it was a bit awkward, especially given the placement. That person conceded that it was an "experiment, but not necessarily something we'll be doing in the future."