News Producers' Pressures on Advertisers: Production of Paid News in Slovenian Television Programs

While media and journalism studies focus on advertising pressures on news producers, media pressures on advertisers are overlooked. The present study is the first to analyze media pressures on advertisers and the ways in which all participants interpret the phenomenon. This study used ethnographic methods to study 10 Slovenian television stations and 10 corporate marketing departments, as well as in-depth interviews with key actors. The research showed that television advertising practitioners and journalists exert pressure on advertisers to pay for news that either promotes products/services or suppresses information that reflects badly on advertisers.