BP to resume ads on ThinkProgress.
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 23rd, 2010 4:39 am by HL
BP to resume ads on ThinkProgress.
ThinkProgress reported on Friday afternoon that BP decided to pull its ads from our site after we published a piece documenting the extent of the big oil company’s “greenwashing campaign.” Two days later, TP has been informed by our outside ad company, Common Sense Media, that BP would like to resume its ads on our site beginning Monday. This controversy provides an opportunity for me to better communicate our blog’s policy with respect to paid advertisers on our site. My view is that, in order to sustain our operation, ThinkProgress is happy to take money from those with whom we have policy or ideological disagreements, provided they understand that we will not soften or silence our progressive point-of-view. There are limits, of course, to ads that we will accept. For instance, we do not want ads that are degrading or offensive on our site. But for those advertisers who want to run messaging on our site that counters TP’s reporting, we trust readers will take both pieces of information and render their own judgments. Because we have an outside ad company servicing our ads, the editors and reporters on TP are not generally informed of who is purchasing ads on our site — and it’s better left that way. Advertisers will not influence our content, and we will not produce content to lure advertisers.