barking up the wrong tree

ITV has just announced a tie-in with a dog food company to fund one of its programmes. It is also reported that a deal is pending concerning a new 30 sec themed ad to run during or around News at Ten. Sponsorship is not currently allowed for News prgrammes but the broadcaster has made no secret of its wish to go further down this route. This is difficult territory. There is sympathy for ITV's poor performance and it is in the public interest to have a strong, viable ITV. But this support doesn't come at any cost and cannot be taken for granted in these fragile times. ITV has previously crossed the line between news content and promotion; At the height of the premium rate phone 'gold-rush', journalists were being asked to phone round local businesses to drum up free products that could be offered as competion prizes during regional news programmes.

Too close a relationship between a particular advertiser and a news programme will inevitably raise questions over conflict of interest. With traditional news services under increasing threat and rebuilding public trust a priority, a clumsy move could be shortsighted and counterproductive. A real debate is needed of funding models for PSB but impatiality is not a comodity and shouldn't be squandered, at any price.