• Portfolio, Monday, March 16, 2009 9:30 AM

As more magazines try putting advertising on their covers, it would be better to do it simply. Most recently, Scholastic Parent & Child magazine has begun running ads on the lower-right corner of its cover. Other magazines have been tiptoeing up to the practice.

Soon the American Society of Magazine Editors, which tries to maintain industry norms governing the independence of editorial from advertising, may have to change its aversion to such ads. In newspapers, the taboo against page-one ads has fallen without any appreciable damage to the independence or reputation of the papers that carry them, among them The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

With the day coming when the magazine cover will be just another premium ad position, why not get ahead of the issue and make sure that the advertising on the cover is honest and clearly labeled? Better that, than some kind of shady stealth-marketing that confuses consumers and raises real questions about editors' independence.

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