This week NBC/Universal/Comcast/Whatever converted its msnbc.com website to NBCNews.com, the better to distinguish its ideologically driven Lean Forward MSNBC brand from its traditionally oriented Lean Backward NBC News brand.

Problem is, it’s gonna lean on you.

From the Nieman Journalism Lab:

For NBCNews.com, a new website comes with new privacy standards

It’s unlikely that many news consumers will read the fine print that comes with the splashy rebranding from MSNBC.com to NBCNews.com.

The new website’s privacy policy was adopted to “align with NBC Universal standards in privacy,” the network’s chief digital officer, Vivian Schiller, told me. “If you go through it with a fine-toothed comb, I don’t think you’ll find it much different,” she said.

But there are a few key things about the changing privacy policy that you should know.

Among them: No longer being able to opt out of targeted advertising.

There are lots of nooks and crannies in the new arrangement, so you should read the Nieman piece in full.

But it’s hard to escape this conclusion:

The NBCNoose.com is tightening.

 

 

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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