Tuesday’s Boston Herald front page:

 

 

Note the announcement top left:

 

 

The feisty local tabloid’s new State of the Arts blog appears to be the paper’s entry into the commerce journalism racket.

Representative sample:

 

 

So . . . one piece from a Herald staffer, two pieces from local arts organizations.

Looks like stealth marketing to us.

The hardtracking staff will try to contact the Herald to ask if those last two posts are paid placements. But we don’t expect the Herald will respond, most likely because they don’t appreciate the efforts of the hardreading staff at It’s Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.

Then again, crosstown rival Boston Globe has already broken ground in presenting ads in blog’s clothing with its Insights Blog Listings.

So no big deal, right?

Wrong.

 

John R. Carroll is media analyst for NPR's Here & Now and senior news analyst for WBUR in Boston. He also writes at Campaign Outsider and It's Good to Live in a Two-Daily Town.
John R. Carroll has 305 post(s) on Sneak Adtack