'Alice in Wonderland' Deceiving the LA Times Readers

The front page of the newspaper Los Angeles Times Friday, March 5, 2010, was unusual. Actor Johnny Depp's face costumed characters "Mad Hatter" in the film "Alice in Wonderland" dominates the front page of one of the leading city newspaper the United States (U.S.) is.

The figure of "colorful" it is in a position almost covered the entire article that was published two months ago. Posts typical "Los Angeles Times" also graced the front page of "fake" is.
As quoted from the CNN page, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Times, John Conroy, said the ads on the front page of "fake" it is an opportunity to widen the boundaries of advertising and creating new innovations that attract attention.

Meanwhile, journalism experts from the Poynter Institute, Roy Peter Clark said the economic hard times and lack of newspaper advertising sales force to tear the wall of separation ethics front pages of newspapers with advertisements (firewall).

"The walls were in recent years become a fence that separates the ad with the news, but the Los Angeles Times created a swinging gate, can follow the flow," Clark said as quoted by the CNN page.

Clark said that the ad gave the impression that there are parties who are willing to deceive readers. Way, Clark continued, by making the reader think that the front page it is in fact the front page.

The use of news articles as part of advertising is another issue, Clark said. "I am very worried because they use the news 'false' true original. It looks like misuse of journalism," Clark asserted.

Two articles that almost covered the figure of "The Mad Hatter" is about health proposals, published February 18 last, and the Afghanistan war, which was published on 19 February. "If I wrote the article, I must be mad," said Clark.

Furthermore, although Conroy said the reader will not be confused with the fake cover, some journalists like CNN bureau in Los Angeles did not immediately realize that the front page actually was behind the ad.

A Los Angeles Times reader who works at a marketing firm in Hollywood films also feel fooled by these ads. "We never offer this kind of ad repeatedly on media companies, but never managed to persuade them," said the reader who refused to name it.

"I do not always agree with what we (film marketing companies) are doing," he continued. This reader predicted that ad is worth around U.S. $ 100 thousand (nearly USD 1 billion)

Conroy himself refused to disclose the price of the ad. "Our front page is the 'real estate' our most precious. Advertising is in accordance with the price," said Conroy.