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Reuters Teams Up With Red Bull Media House, Raising Ethics Questions

Reuters announced that Red Bull Media House will make a special collection of its sports and lifestyle content available to all users of Reuters Media Express. Digital publishers that are not currently Reuters subscribers will have unlimited access to this content, plus up to 10 free, ready-to-publish news items per month by registering with Reuters Media Express. Clients will now be able to choose from a curated selection of content from Red Bull Media House. In the next year, Red Bull Media House will take fans to the front lines of mountain biking (such as UCI MTB World Cup Tour, Crankworx), motorsports (FIA World Rally Championships, Global Rally Cross, Air Racing, Moto GP, Dakar Rally), winter sports (such as Burton U.S. Open, FIS World Cup skiing), skateboarding, cliff diving, beach volleyball and surfing events, but also break dancing, music, arts and more. There will be stories from prominent figures around the world like French WRC champion Sébastien Ogier, American skier Lindsey Vonn, Scottish BMX pro Kriss Kyle, U.S. golfers Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson and Japanese snowboarder Yuki Kadono (Reuters).

BLURRING THE LINE: CNBC's Michelle Castillo reported the partnership is "further blurring the line between brand-created content and journalism." Reuters Global Head of Sports & Strategic Partnerships Robert Schack said, "The media world is changing." Reuters has "carried items from other media organizations before, and has created sponsored content on behalf of brands like SAP Software Solutions." However, this is the first time that a brand's media arm "will create content for the journalism institution." University of Missouri Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute Dir of Communications Brian Steffens added that many media companies "are stressed financially, and staying afloat is considered a success." Expanding to new coverage is "considered a luxury." It is much cheaper to "work with an outside agency than to start your own division." Steffens: "It's all about transparency, fairness and accuracy. If they can hit those core elements of what journalism is about, then it isn't a bad thing." Syracuse University Newhouse School Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture Dir Bob Thompson is "still skeptical." Though he acknowledges that sports coverage "is often seen as somewhere between hard news and entertainment," he said there are topics within the sports world that do "cross over to more serious reporting." He pointed to the domestic abuse scandals within the NFL. Thompson: "I think these kind of relationships make me really uncomfortable." A Red Bull Media House spokesperson said that it would "cover news topics regardless if it conflicted with the parent company's goals." The spokesperson said, "We cover stories according to its editorial relevance, just as any other media company does; however, we always act with integrity, regardless of the nature of our relationship" (CNBC, 3/31).

FOR THE BEST? FORTUNE's Matthew Ingram opined if Red Bull’s media arm "can serve the sports needs of Reuters clients, where’s the harm?" After all, it is "not like it’s hard news -- it’s just coverage of volleyball or rally driving or whatever, right?" Reuters gets content it can sell, clients get content that readers want, "everyone goes home happy." The problem with such arrangements, however, "is that the blurrier the line gets between sponsored content and the news -- even news about sporting events -- the harder it is to decide whom to trust." If there is an "explosion or a death or some other news event and Red Bull is covering it," will it approach it from a journalistic perspective or a marketing perspective? How "will readers know?" There is "nothing wrong with a brand like Red Bull producing and distributing its own news-style content." But when that reporting "gets mixed in with the output of a media outlet like Reuters, there’s the potential for a loss of trust." And as a news publisher, "that is the kiss of death" (FORTUNE, 4/1).

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