Separation of church and state

<p>There are some things readers will see in other credit union publications that they will never see in the pages of Credit Union Times. You won’t see a “news” story about an advertiser that is placed strategically in proximity to that vendor’s advertisement. Quite the opposite. The editors of Credit Union Times go out of their way to make certain the sponsor of an ad and the subject of a news story are not so intertwined that it sends the wrong signal to readers. Those publications that engage in this practice are hurting their credibility and that of the advertiser as well. They are saying to the reader, you are so stupid that you won’t be able to figure out that we offer our editorial product for sale in order to secure advertising revenue. At Credit Union Times we respect the intelligence of our readers. The most blatant example of crossing the line between church and state, between advertising and editorial, is something called an advertorial. Other credit union publications run them. We never will. They are a commercial message disguised to look like a legitimate news story. They fool no one. For the dollars involved, credit union publications that run them lose all credibility with readers. To get on the news pages of Credit Union Times a story must be newsworthy. It has nothing to do with who advertises with us and who doesn’t. -</p> <p>[email protected]</p>