Guardian Labs makes an ambitious move by being more transparent. In order to uphold the integrity of their content, they’ve publicly committed to new labeling guidelines for sponsored content. The organization will categorize this content under four distinct labels: ‘Supported by’, ‘Advertising partner/Exclusive advertising partner’, ‘Paid content/Paid for by’, or ‘Advertiser content/from our advertisers’. The goal of this new series is to provide readers as transparently as possible with an idea of what kind of articles they should expect to read.
These changes come at a time of incredible media upheaval. Audiences, especially younger ones, are increasingly savvy and require more transparency in that creator/sponsor partnership. Guardian Labs’ hope is to build trust by introducing these labels. Most importantly, they want to empower readers with the context they need for all of the content they’re consuming.
Funding for New Projects
Guardian Labs would be willing to take third-party funding for similar projects. This approach allows the organization to expand its offerings while ensuring that the content produced aligns with its standards of quality and integrity. Working closely with advertisers, Guardian Labs produces compelling, creative content that is interesting to and appropriate for the audience they’ve built.
The willingness to accept third-party funding is not restricted to this new project. Guardian Labs understands how meaningful outside financial support can be when it comes to helping expand and enhance our day-to-day efforts. This new direction would free up the organization to focus on more multimedia-friendly content, without ever compromising its legacy of superior journalism.
Transparency in Content Creation
Clarity through labels
This first, big change with labels has two main goals. It creates real transparency about potential financial conflicts. This level of transparency greatly empowers our readers to make informed choices about the content they’re consuming. Each label will be a permanent reminder of how sponsorship can dictate the outcome of the editorial process.
Guardian Labs always stresses that even though it takes money, it is absolutely committed to maintaining the highest journalistic principles. The nonprofit promises to have all sponsored content fact-checked. This collaborative process helps the accuracy and quality of the information before it’s published. So even when funding does come from sponsorship or other outside sources, the integrity of the content is always preserved.
Enhancing Reader Trust
With these new guidelines, Guardian Labs hopes to be more transparent with its audience and build greater trust along the way. In an age where bad actors can easily disseminate misinformation, allowing these clear disclosures helps remove the mystery around sponsored content. Readers know right off the bat what type of article they are getting. This clarity goes a long way in shaping their mindset and understanding of the topic at hand.
Guardian Labs is convinced that obvious disclosure of sponsorship will serve the organization — and, more importantly, its audience — better in the long run. Its intent is to encourage transparency. In this approach, it seeks to develop a more sophisticated readership that can easily distinguish between editorial and paid content.