The laudatory article carried a lofty headline, praising Facebook for fighting misinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. One of the tech giant’s executives, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, liked it so much, she posted it to her own page, calling it “great.”
But the “article,” published online Wednesday by Teen Vogue, appeared without a byline and read more like a 2,000-word news release than a piece of journalism, prompting some to ask whether Facebook had paid to place it.
In the ensuing hours, a befuddling back-and-forth followed, featuring a mysterious retraction, an apology and a pair of statements parceled out by company spokespeople. None of it clarified the article’s origins, but it did begin a conversation about an online news environment where advertising and editorial content sometimes swirl together, and powerful corporations pay big to bolster their brands.
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- Πηγή: whashington post
- Ετικέτες: post, whasington