If you are among the small number of people who don’t use ad-block when browsing online, you may have noticed some odd advertisements on The Cavalier Daily website. There are appropriate ads for class council applications, other graduate school programs or the Cavalier Calendar, which now includes information about events around Grounds. Unfortunately, there are also some advertisements that appear to be little more than click-bait, with misleading or evocative headlines. These ads raise two distinct concerns about credibility with readers and transparency with revenues.
At a time when the media has been placed under the microscope and controversy over fake news is regularly discussed, it is especially important that news sources work to retain their credibility. To a reader, the placement of these advertisements may reduce the trustworthiness of The Cavalier Daily articles posted online. These ads also seem to appear only near the comment section of articles and not on the main page of the site. It is not clear whether these advertisements are attached to the comment section for any particular reason or if The Cavalier Daily has explicit control over the content of these ads. While these ads are all denoted as “sponsored content” this does not necessarily reduce the unintended negative impact on readers’ perception of news quality.
It is also concerning that these ads are included on The Cavalier Daily website since they may be used to bring in revenue for the student newspaper. Staff should strive for increased transparency about Cavalier Daily finances and ultimately raise standards for the type of sponsored content allowed on the website. Click-bait and advertisements that mention celebrity gossip or feature strange headlines can undercut the importance or seriousness of an article. Whether consciously or unconsciously, readers will judge the reliability of information online based on the types of ads on the site. Readers should feel confident in the security of the site and in the validity of the material presented there.
In spite of the unfortunate nature of these online ads, it is encouraging to note that there are relatively few ads in the print copy of the newspaper, and that there are other ways to access articles. The Cavalier Daily app has a clean, user-friendly design and allows readers to view content without any ads. However, the app does not allow readers to see online comments or leave their own. As The Cavalier Daily works to redesign their website and improve their online presence, the quality of advertisements should be heavily considered. At worst, the ads featured on the site should not detract from the overall news content and, at best, the ads should be appropriately targeted towards students and community members.
Jacquelyn Katuin is the Public Editor for The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at publiceditor@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @CDPublicEditor.
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