• Editor & Publisher, Thursday, August 3, 2006 12:30 PM

As The Baltimore Sun joins The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune in putting ads on section fronts, Joe Strupp at Editor & Publisher says bring 'em on. Some critics claim the practice violates some unspoken ethic of journalism--that it lessens a paper's credibility. But Strupp charges the opposite: "What took you so long? And why not do more?" The rest of the world is advertising-crazy, so newwpapers should join in. He doesn't care if some of the same types of ads make Web sites look like "cluttered commercial carnivals, or give cable news shows all the ad-choked subtlety of the home-run fence at a minor-league ballpark?" Strupp favors just sticking ads square on the front page, above the paper's names or tied in with a headline. "You could have "Bush (Baked Beans!) Declares Iraq War A Success" or "Dow Jones (Pork Sausage!) Up 20 Points."

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