buying good press

I am outraged but sadly not surprised. The Guardian ran a special pull-out on regeneration earlier this week, which wasn't quite what it seemed.
Entitled Promised Lands, it was unreservedly positive about the government's Pathfinder scheme, and while I missed it at the time I did notice when I looked that the pieces didn't appear to be listed on the paper's archive.
Columnist Simon Jenkins today reveals why.....

The section ominously carried no advertising, but was not headed "advertising supplement". Yet it was paid for by the government's Housing Market Renewal Partnerships - which agreed the synopsis - to boost the controversial Pathfinder housing policy. In return for a large sum of money, the agency was offered pre-sight of the copy to "correct inaccuracies". In effect, it secured sympathetic coverage. None of the writers (nor the Guardian's readers) was told of this, or that their fees were being paid, in effect, by the Blair government. Some were given to understand that they were writing for the Observer.....

It is well worth reading the full article

Postscript: I left a comment underneath Jenkins' Guardian piece....