Washington Post Magazine struggles with advertising relationship

[Commentary] The Washington Post Magazine’s Aug. 11 Education Issue did not include a couple of articles because objections from the business side of the Washington Post.

“They didn’t feel it was appropriate,” says Lynn Medford, the magazine’s top editor. “They were adamant about it.” What’s noteworthy about the adjustments to the magazine’s education issue is the pre-publication intervention by the advertising folks at the Post. “They have their opinions, they express their opinions in the same ways their colleagues down here [in editorial] do, and sometimes I listen and sometimes I don’t,” says Medford. There would be no Washington Post Magazine without its revenue issues. Whether it’s education, home and design, travel or dining, this cluster of themed publications accounts for the “bulk” of magazine revenues, to use Medford’s characterization. The news industry has long since made peace with the wink-wink corruption involved in producing these money-makers. Conceived to be friendly to the relevant industry, they’re often filled with content that makes for pleasant adjacencies to advertisements from companies with a stake in the topics at hand. Editors know not get too edgy with their story choices, lest the business side lose all credibility with their accounts and the publication move closer to bankruptcy.