From our Native Advertising Goes Ever More Native desk 

Lately the hardtracking staff has tried to be on branded content like Brown on Williamson, but as fast as we can write them up, the journo-marketing complex has gotten more, well, complex. Among the most aggressive news media websites are Gawker, The (ham-handed) Atlantic, and BuzzFeed, which is buzzing right along refining its approach.

Here’s how Buzzfeed is now presenting sponsored content:

 

 

It’s a little tough to see, but here’s what’s located underneath the headline/subhead:

 

 

Yeah, Buzzfeed Partner in fooling the public. This new gimmick makes the previous format for disclosure look downright transparent:

 

 

It’s pretty easy to miss that “Paid Political Content” at the upper left of the screen, but at least it was there.

Hey, BuzzFeed! You’re going in the wrong direction. You feel us, partner?

 

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.
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