Advertising versus editorial

[Jon]

It was interesting to hear the response from readers about our decision to run a front page story about one of our advertisers accused of fraud.
Some thought we were irresponsible for keeping the ad on our pages while we ran the story, but the truth of the matter is that advertisers sign contracts with our advertising staff. The contract is simple: you give us money, we run an ad on the bottom of our pages. If we break that contract, we can get sued.
That is how we pay our bills.
What some may not realize is that the stories on the top of our pages are generated by our editorial department and have nothing whatsoever to do with our advertising. That's how our readers know we cannot be bought and we will always tell the truth.

Here is the link to the original story:
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=94122&eddate=06/27/2008

[jonvn]

So you make money advertising for firms that have been duping the public?

I know this is a small paper, and you probably are short on cash, but don't you think you ought to have maybe canceled the contract and given their money back to them? You should have some sort of cancellation clause.

There are some ethical issues involved here.

[Jon]

Canceling a contract has legal ramifications and it is a slippery slope since the accused has not been convicted. Contracts are simply that, contracts.